The ECAR study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology

•Ali Rahimi: Director, Information Technology Services, The American University of Paris arahimi@aup.edu www.aup.edu

•Vicky Tseroni: Librarian, American College of Greece, www.acg.edu vtseroni@acg.edu

•Peter Korovessis: Executive Director for IT, American College of Greece, www.acg.edu pkorovessis@acg.edu

•Rosa Fusco: Director of Computer Services, The American University of Rome www.aur.edu r.fusco@aur.edu

•Ekaterina Kombarova: Director, Information Technology, The American University of Central Asia

kombarova_e@mail.auca.kg www.auca.kg

•Asma Al-Kanan: Director, Library, The American University of Kuwait aalkanan@auk.edu.kw www.auk.edu.kw

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What is EDUCAUSE?

EDUCAUSE® is a nonprofit association and the foremost community of IT leaders and professionals committed to advancing higher education.

EDUCAUSE helps those who lead, manage, and use information technology to shape strategic IT decisions at every level within higher education.

EDUCAUSE annual conference is the most important HE event in the world

EDUCAUSE annual subscription fees: Domain .edu - $40.00 USD Institution's membership - $1075.00 USD (Over 1,800 colleges and

universities) ECAR Premium Subscription - $5,150 USD ECAR Subscription - $3,600 USD (students, faculty, and staff automatically

have access to ECAR research and analyses)

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EDUCAUSE Services:

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EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research

Colleges and universities use the CDS benchmarking service to inform their IT strategic planning and management.

Core Data Services

• Infuse IT engagement not only in academic but also in everyday life.

• Research Topic: “Establishment of an Information Security Awareness and Culture”.

• Focus on the academic sector emphasizing the importance of security awareness in academia and how the lessons learnt here are applied in both personal and professional lives.

EDUCAUSE Resources

EDUCAUSE Resources

Other Resources

• SANS Institute– Securing the Human Target.

• ENISA– The users’ guide on how to raise

information security awareness.

• UK GetSafeOnline– Detailed advise for home and business

users on how to use the Internet confidently, safely and securely

The Method

• Security is not solely an IT discipline.• Investigate the level of security awareness amongst the online

population.• Sample size of 160 students registered for CS1070 –

Introduction to Information Systems course at ACG.• Paper based questionnaire of 28 questions consisting of three

sections:– Background Information (eg. Gender, college year,

academic discipline, age, employment status).– Level of Awareness (eg. Online habits)– T/F Questions (Indicate the level of agreement with

specific information security statements).

Results

• Presented and interpreted in the following four sections: – Background Information.– Use of IT and the Internet.– Security Knowledge and Perceptions and – Security Practices and Behaviors.

• It is the responsibility of the academia to prepare professionals that can protect critical infrastructures and investments in people, equipment and information assets.

• Although a large proportion of respondents claimed knowledge of security measures, they did not demonstrate effective security practices.

Next steps

• Paper publication:– “Information Security Awareness in Academia”,

International Journal of Knowledge Society Research.

• Further research:– Establish a common body of knowledge (CBK) to serve as

a tool that groups the necessary skills and essential knowledge of this field.

– Survey security awareness differences between incoming students and students ready for graduation.

– Develop an Information Security Awareness toolkit.

ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and IT

Overall objective is to examine how IT affects the college experience for students.

To do this it:

• Assesses student’s technology ownership and use

• Explore how effectively instructors and institutions use technology

• Investigates the IT skill level of students

• Measures students’ IT perceptions, attitudes and preferences

Data from the 2012 ECAR study ofundergraduates and IT

Why should we participate in the study?

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AMICAL Member Institutions Summary of Response Statistics

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Institution Response Count Population Sample

SizeCurrent

Response Rate

Estimated Margin of

Error

American University of Central Asia 169 1,039 1,039 16.27% 7.06%

American University of Kuwait 71 2,050 2,050 3.46% 11.74%American University of Rome 46 203 203 22.66% 13.11%

The American College of Greece-Deree College 138 2,325 2,325 5.94% 8.29%

The American University of Paris 77 717 717 10.74% 10.84%

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AMICAL Member Institutions

Response Statistics:• Device Usage & Ownership• Technology Requirements & Expectations• Student Recommendations for Instructors

use of Technology

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

11%

3%

4%

5%

3%

6%

7%

4%

11%

3%

2%

7%

3%

7%

6%

4%

78%

94%

94%

88%

95%

87%

87%

92%

Q. 2.1a - Own Laptop ?

Yes, Currently own a Laptop

No & DO plan to purchase

No & Do NOT Plan to Purchase

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

27%

6%

20%

9%

10%

16%

11%

16%

21%

1%

4%

5%

4%

10%

8%

7%

52%

93%

76%

86%

86%

75%

82%

77%

Q2.1.c Own Smartphone ?

Yes, I currently own one

No, and I DO plan to purchase one

No, and I don't plan to purchase one

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

49%

59%

70%

33%

81%

53%

47%

59%

7%

3%

9%

4%

1%

5%

5%

4%

44%

38%

22%

63%

18%

43%

48%

36%

Q2.1.c Own Desktop ?

Yes, I currently own one

No, and I DO plan to purchase one

No, and I don't plan to purchase one

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1%

5%

0%

0%

1%

1%

3%

1%

6%

36%

51%

18%

69%

29%

19%

30%

92%

60%

49%

81%

29%

69%

78%

68%

Q2.2a. OS/type: Laptop?

WindowsMACLINUX

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

4%

0%

0%

0%

3%

1%

3%

5%

38%

7%

8%

19%

2%

18%

27%

27%

58%

87%

92%

76%

90%

78%

63%

61%

2.2b. OS/type: Tablet or iPad ?

IPAD

ANDROID

WINDOWS

BLACKBERRY

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AU Cen. Asia

AU Kuwait

AU Rome

AU Greece

AU Paris

AMICAL

All non-US institutions

All institutions

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

2%

1%

9%

3%

4%

3%

3%

31%

4%

13%

4%

6%

10%

7%

9%

9%

38%

31%

41%

28%

38%

34%

41%

40%

31%

27%

28%

34%

22%

30%

27%

25%

25%

28%

17%

30%

26%

26%

19%

21%

3.4 Important that I be better skilled at using technologies

Extremely Important

Very Important

Moderately Important

Not Very Important

Not at all Important

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examples of open ended questions, finding

• Give some examples of how you would like to see free available course content.

1. Khan Academy

• What online resource do you use first ?

1. Google

2. Wikipedia

3. EBSCO/JStorAMICALE ROME 2013

The American University of ParisExperience

AUP’s Participation

in the 2013 ECAR SurveyReport by Jorge Sosa (Library) & Ali Rahimi (ITS) – The American University of Paris

• Collaborative effort: – Information Technology Services & Library

• Partnered with Student Organizations & Academic Affairs

• Several channels of communications

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A Successful First Experience

Communication

February 26 (before the Spring break) - First email to students

With Facebook Postings

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InstitutionResponse

Count PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

Error

The American University of Paris 37 717 717 5.10% 6.10%

MARCH 10: As of 8 AM (PDT), AUP 2013 ECAR Student Technology Survey response status was as follows:

March 5 (after Spring break)

– Email (AUP & Personal), - Student organizations, - AUP News, Student TV network

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InstitutionResponse

Count PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

Error

The American University of Paris 71 717 717 9,90% 11.35%

MARCH 18: As of 8 AM (PDT), AUP 2013 ECAR Student Technology Survey response status was as follows:

March 25 – REMINDER: Email message, additional advertising campaign

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InstitutionResponse

Count PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

Error

The American University of Paris 72 717 717 10,00% 11.3%

MARCH 25: As of 8 AM (PDT) March 25, AUP 2013 ECAR Student Technology Survey response status is as follows:

April 12: Final - As of 8 AM (PDT), AUP 2013 ECAR Student Technology Survey response status is as follows:

InstitutionResponse

Count PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

Error

The American University of Paris 77 717 717 10.7% 10.8%

• During AUP’s talent show, 3 winners selected at random from the pool of respondents were awarded with gift certificates (2 @ 40 Euros and one @ 100 Euros).

Conclusions:• The prizes seems to be a great instrument to encourage student

participation.• Monitoring the participation is essential in order to launch another

round of the e-mail campaign and the flyers.• Communication is vital and also the key to the success for this survey.• Don’t even try to get a donation for educational purposes with

Amazon. They are a monopoly, although locally very cheap.

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Raffle with Prizes offered

The American University of Central AsiaExperience

What was the goal to participate

to learn about AUCA undergraduate students’ technology profile,

experiences and interests

Who were introducing the survey and promoting the survey

• Vice-president for Academic Affairs

• IT department• Student life office• Academic Advising office• PR office• Student Senate and Faculty and Chairs of

Programs

What did we do to communicate with students / to make participation more active

• First message (invitation) to students asking them to participate in the survey from Vice-president for Academic Affairs

• Reminder messages from IT

• Similar reminders to students from advisers, Chairs of Programs, etc.

• General advertising: AUCA website, Facebook, Twitter, desktop wallpaper, home page in IE and on posters

• Massage to faculty to say that we are surveying students and need the support

• Invitation to participate in a prize draw for those students who completed the survey

Institution

Response Count as

of 4/8 PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

ErrorAmerican University of Central Asia 130 1,039 1,039 12.5% 8.2%

Institution

Response Count as of 4/12 Population

Sample Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

ErrorAmerican University of Central Asia 169 1,039 1,039 16.3% 7.1%

Institution

Response Count as

of 4/1 PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

ErrorAmerican University of Central Asia 69 1,039 1,039 6.6% 11.7%

Institution

Response Count asof 3/18 Population

Sample Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

ErrorAmerican University of Central Asia 35 1,039 1,039 3.4% 16.9%

AUCA statistics on students' response

InstitutionResponse

Count PopulationSample

Size

Current Response

Rate

Estimated Margin of

ErrorAmerican University of Central Asia 2 1,039 1,039 0.19% 99.90%

AUCA statistics on students' response

Mar 18 Mar 25 Apr 1 Apr 8 Apr 120

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2

35

69

130

169

opened: March 18 closed: April 12

First findings

• A lot of AUCA students participated in the survey – 169 (16,3%)this shows interest from the student community in this survey and good administrative work on promoting the survey

• AUCA has consistent results with other AMICAL participants,this means that AUCA faculty, students and administration demonstrate the same pattern in the use of IT within an academic context this allows us to create a comparative analysis and make future collaborative projects

• There are a lot of results in ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Technology, and we need to conduct deeper quantitative /qualitative cross tabulation analysis with development of practical recommendations

The American University of RomeExperience

The Process

How did we encourage participation?

Institution Response count

Population Sample size Response rate

The American University of Rome

46 203 203 22.66%

Response Statistics for AUR

Technology AUR All Institutions AMICAL schools

Laptop 93.5% 92.3% 86.8%

Tablet/I-Pad 30.4% 28.9% 24.8%

Smartphone 76.1% 77.0% 74.7%

Desktop PC 21.7% 36.2% 42.5%

Data for technology ownership

Learning environment, where students learn best

Environment AUR All Institutions AMICAL schools

Some online component

55.6% 61.6% 65.9%

The American College of GreeceExperience

We have never conducted a similar comprehensive survey

We make a number of assumptions about student experience with technology

Opportunity to benchmark with other similar institutions

The decision to participate

IT and Library worked together Sought approval by the administration Did not opt to participate in the incentive

program:◦ Complicated internal process◦ Complete confidentiality

Survey ran from March 7 to April 12 Invited students to participate

Survey administration

Response counts

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Final0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

64 64

98106

138

The American University of KuwaitExperience

Why ECAR?

•Strategic Planning & Improvement•Institutional Assessment•Group Level Data

Getting Started with ECAR

•Admin. Approval•Intent to Participate Form

Departments Involved

•IR•IT•Library

Process Overview

•March 20th – Faculty and Staff were informed of the study being distributed to students.

•March 25th – initial e-mail with the survey link was sent from the President

•April 7th – reminder sent to students from VP-Student Affairs to students to complete the survey

•April 10th – reminder sent to students from IT Director to students to complete the survey

•April 15th – Received confirmation from Educause that the survey was closed, and AUK’s response rate was approximately 3.5%

•Institutional Data files to be distributed by Mid-June, with full published annual report out in September 2013.

Response Rate

3.46%

To Participate Again?

Yes, Definately!

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Questions and Discussion

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