Since 2007 the University of Glasgow has conducted a biannual survey of incoming first year students in order to ascertain which technologies they are already using and those which they believe will be useful in their studies. In September 2013, 1949 students completed the survey, with all Schools being represented. This report summarises the results of that survey, comparing its findings with the results of previous surveys in 2011 and 2009.

1. First Year Student Use of Technology and their Expectations of Technology Use
in their Courses
Sarah Honeychurch & Barry McCluckie
Learning and Teaching Centre
Since 2007 the University of Glasgow has conducted a biannual survey of incoming first year students in order to
ascertain which technologies they are already using and those which they believe will be useful in their studies. In
September 2013, 1949 students completed the survey, with all Schools being represented. This report summarises the
results of that survey, comparing its findings with the results of previous surveys in 2011 and 2009.
·Most students have internet access, with only 2% (n=37) reporting that they have no access.
·Desktop access continues to drop, and exclusive access is down from 33.4% in 2009 to 21.3% in
2013.
·Laptop ownership continues to rise, with 88.6% of students now having exclusive access to a device.
·Students are more engaged with social networking, with 76.5% now accessing social
networking sites several times a day and a further 63.2% using Twitter regularly.
·Smart phones ownership has risen steeply, with 87.2% having exclusive access, compared to 61.5%
in 2011.
·There is a sharp increase in the amount of students accessing email via their smart phones. In
2013, 79.3% stated that they accessed their emails at least once a day, compared to only 19.8% in
2009.*
*Anecdotally we are told that this will be a personal email account, not their student one.
·98% use the web to access video clips
·86% use the web to share photos
·71% use the web to chat
·63% use the web to microblog (Tweet)
·48% have a mobile (tablet) device
·95% use their phone to access email
·94% use their phone to access the web
·86% use their phone to share photos
·67% use their phone to microblog (tweet)
·62% use their phone to make video calls
The full report will be made available on the Student Voice website (www.gla.ac.uk/studentvoice). You can also contact Sarah.Honeychurch@glasgow.ac.uk
I think it will be useful in
my University studies to:
Rank
2009 2011 2013
Use the web to access read-
ing material for your course?
1 1 1
Use the web to access writ-
ten course content materi-
als?
2 2 2
Download or access online
audio/video recordings of
lectures you did not attend?
6 4 3
Download or access online
audio/video recordings to
revise the content of lectures
you have already been to?
4 3 4
Download or access online
audio/video recordings of
supplementary content mate-
rial?
7 5 5
Receive alerts about course
information via RSS feeds on
the web?
5 6 6
Receive administrative infor-
mation about the course via
text message on your mobile
phone
11 8 7
Use social networking soft-
ware on the web to
communicate/collaborate
with other students in the
course?
9 9 8
Students perception on usefulness of particular technologies at university by rank
More and more students are using
mobile technology in their studies
Students expect to
use technology in
their studies