The Role of Personal Computers in Undergraduate Education

This scoping study investigated the role that personal computers play in supporting undergraduate study practice. Monitoring software was installed on the personal computers of five third year students undertaking a summer school course at the University of Otago in 2012. The data showed students' daily academic use of their personal computers was significantly lower compared with their non-academic use. There was also no obvious relationship found when comparing overall computer use with course assignment schedules. In addition, students' perceived use of personal computers as captured through self-reports was found to be contrary to their actual use as recorded by the computer monitoring software. The low level of use for academic purposes indicates that the personal computers did not play a significant role in the daily study practices of these students and that the current perceptions that such devices are vital to student learning may be unsound.

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