Computer Utilization Studies in Higher Education: Perceptions vs. Realities

AbstractResearch has documented much about computer usage in higher education including student access to computers, computer related courses, the characteristics of students in these courses, the per cent of course work requiring use of the computer and types of computer applications. These studies are predominantly reflections of the opinions of faculty, students, and administrators and do little to clarify how much the available hardware is being used and by whom. This paper summarizes the findings of previous research on computer utilization in higher educartion and identifies crucial areas requiring future study such as the extent of computer use, the number of computer-hours associatied with various tasks, and the characteristics of those students and faculty who are using the computer.