Analysis of Student Laptop and Common Space Use
at the University of Texas at Austin, Spring 2005
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Executive Summary
Since implementing a wireless network, coverage University of Texas at Austin has extended to include approximately 80% of common spaces and 40% of classrooms, giving the university one of the most extensive wireless networks of any U.S. university. In the last three years (2002 - 2004), the university has seen graduate and undergraduate student laptop ownership increase and desktop ownership decrease. To better understand how students are using their laptop computers on campus, a walkup survey was conducted targeting students working in eight university common spaces. Overall the results showed that:
- The response rate was 81% (of the 100 students approached, 81 agreed to participate), with 51.8% female and 48.2% male. The 81 students represented 10 of the 17 university schools and colleges. 67.9% of students were undergraduates, 23.4% graduate students, and 12.3% Law students. Surveys lasted an average of six minutes, fifty-eight seconds (00:06:58).
- Of the 100 students approached, 79 were using a laptop, 21 were not. Of the 81 participants, 62 were using a laptop, and 19 were not. All participants own either a desktop or laptop: 73 own a laptop, 43 own a desktop, and 35 own both.
- Almost all (96.2%) students were doing work that is "directly or indirectly related to learning."
- The vast majority (80.8%) of students bring their laptop to campus "at least once a week," and 73.8% of students work in their common space location "at least once a week."
- The majority (65.7%) of students think that wireless in their common space location is "excellent," and 44% of students think that wireless at UT in general is "excellent."
- The majority of students (56.7%) found that the furniture in their location is "somewhat conducive" to using a laptop, and 34.3% think the furniture is "very conducive."
- The vast majority of students (87.7%) "don't know" how much bandwidth they are allowed to use per week on the public network, and one-third (34.4%) believed their wireless connection to be "very secure."
- When asked if they had found a secure place to store their laptop on campus for a long period of time, 81.2% students answered "No," 51.4% preferring to "keep their laptop with them."
- When asked if they had found a secure place to store their laptop if they wanted to temporarily leave their current location, 85.5% of students answered "No," with 35.2% preferring to "bring their laptop with them, and 14.8% choosing to "leave their laptop on the table by itself."
The creation of this study greatly benefited from the assistance and support of Daniel Updegrove, Vice President for Information Technology at the University of Texas at Austin, and Shanna Smith, Manager of ITS Consulting. William Green, Assistant Director, ITS, was a constant source of information on wireless and network specifics.
This report could not have been written without the time, teaching, and expertise of Nancy Heger, Consultant for ITS Research Consulting.