Analysis of Technology Ownership and Selective Use among Undergraduates.

Extent of technology ownership and use has been documented for teens and even pre-teens. However, little is known as to whether such ownership and use patterns change over time. This study examined these issues by surveying a sample of undergraduates as to their ownership and selective use of technology. Compared to teens, undergraduates had higher ownership rates of laptop computers, cell phones, and PDA's. Undergraduates used technology for communication purposes about five-and-a-half hours per day, evenly divided between written and verbal modes. Multiple technologies, including instant and text messaging, were used for quick conversations but phone and face-to-face were the predominant means for more personal communication. ********** Technology has become a daily part of adolescents' lives. Teens are spending increasing amounts of time using computers and internet access, cell phones, text messaging, and instant messaging. It has been reported that internet usage among teens who had access to it averaged approximately 3 hours per week and over 10% of the teens surveyed use it more than 16 hours per week (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, and Gross, 2001). The Pew Internet and American Life Project (2005) surveyed teens between the ages of 12-17 years old to examine their use of technology and found that 51% who use the internet reported that they go online on a daily basis. Additionally, 24% of online teens use the internet several times a day (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005). Research has shown that technology ownership in this population is increasing. In a survey of 12-17 year old adolescents, 84% reported owning at least one personal media device while 44% reported owning two or more devices (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005). Of teens surveyed in the Pew and American Life Project (2005), 73% owned desktop computers, 18% owned laptop computers, and 45% owned a cell phone. Similar findings of cell phone ownership were reported in a survey of tweens and teens between the ages of 10-18 years old with 44% reporting owning a cell phone (mKids study, 2005). Studies have reported that teens use the internet to play games online, get news online, make purchases online, and get health information online (Pew and American Life Project, 2005). Teens surveyed in the Pew and American Life Project study (2005) preferred using instant messaging when communicating with others. Seventy-five percent of online teens in this study reported using IM. Cell phone text messaging was another popular means of communicating with others with 33% of the teens reporting sending text messages via cell phone (Pew and American Life Project, 2005). Despite their attraction to technology, teens in the Pew and American Life Project study (2005) still reported spending more time in face-to-face interaction with friends than they do interacting with them through technology. When using technology to communicate with others, sixty-three percent of teens in the study reported using the phone while 32% reported writing messages to their friends. When asked which communication tool they use most often for various types of conversations, teens reported that they used the phone more often than other forms of technology as a means of communication for quick conversations (59%), serious conversations (74%), and private conversations (60%). When communicating through written word, 46% teens reported using instant messaging more often than email and text messaging to talk to friends (Pew and American Life Project, 2005). While increasing attention is being given to technology ownership and use among teens, research on college students' ownership and use of technology is scant. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine to what extent technology ownership and use extend to a population of undergraduate students. Method Participants Forty-nine undergraduate sophomores enrolled in two sections of an introduction to instructional technology course were the participants in this study. …