Web-based Survey of Student Computing Use

Web-based Survey of Student Computing Use - Spring 2000

A Web-based survey of student computer use was conducted during the period Monday, April 3 through Monday, April 10, 2000.

Replies received:

Year	Number of Replies	%
2000	80	15%
2001	95	18%
2002	107	21%
2003	130	25%
Undergrad	412	79%
Grad Student	105	20%
other	4	1%
Grand Total	521

Computer ownership: Do you own a computer at school?

Year	Yes	No	No answer	Total	%
2000	71	7	2	80	89%
2001	92	3	0	95	97%
2002	99	8	0	107	93%
2003	117	11	2	130	90%
Undergrad	379	29	4	412	92%
Grad Student	97	8	0	105	92%
other	3	0	1	4
Grand Total	479	37	5	521	92%

Note: 22% of the students report owning two computers at school, with no significant difference between undergraduates and graduate students.

Type of computer:

Make	Number of computers	% of all computers
intel	503	88%
mac	51	9%
unix wkstn	19	3%

Style	Number of computers	% of all computers
Desktop	473	80%
Laptop	115	20%

Overall, 21% of students report owning at least one laptop (30% of the graduate students and 19% of the undergraduates).

Own at least one laptop	Number of students	% of students surveyed
Undergraduates	79	21%
Graduate students	32	33%
Total	109	23%

Connection to MITnet and Printer Ownership

Residence	Have connection to MITnet	% of students with computers	% of students surveyed
Dorm	269	99%	91%
ILG	126	86%	79%
Other	24	40%	37%
Total	419	87%	80%

	Number of students	% of students with computers	% of all students
Own a printer	249	52%	48%
Are on MITnet	419	87%	80%
Printer and MITnet	216	45%	41%

Operating systems: What OS do you run on your primary and second computer?

OS	Primary	Second	Total
Win98 alone	181	30	211
Win95 alone	46	11	57
Linux alone	42	37	79
Win98/Linux	39	4	43
Win2K alone	34	3	37
WinNT alone	32	4	36
MacOS	29	9	38
Win95/Linux	10	1	11
Win2K/Linux	10	3	13
WinNT/Linux	9	4	13
Win98/WinNT	7	0	7
Win98/Win2K	6	1	7
FreeBSD	4	0	4
NetBSD	1	4	5
Other combo	27	5	32

OS at all	Primary	Second
Win98	233	35
Linux	110	49
Win95	56	12
Win25	50	7
WinNT	48	8

When asked "Do you own a handheld device such as a Palm Pilot," 30% replied yes and 69% replied no.

Of 384 undergraduates who answered the questions about where and when they bought their first computer that they had at MIT, only 24 bought it at NECX, 106 brought a computer with them, and 216 obtained it elsewhere.

	Brought	NECX	Elsewhere	Other	Total
Before	87	1	16	3	107
After	14	4	57	12	87
First	2	14	71	13	100
Second	2	4	26	2	34
Later	1	1	46	8	56
Total	106	24	216	38	384

Key:

Brought	Brought the machine that I already had at home
NECX	Bought a new computer through NECX
Elsewhere	Bought a new computer from a source other than NECX
Other	Varies
Before	Before I knew I was coming to MIT
After	After I knew I was coming to MIT but before arriving here
First	First semester Freshman year
Second	IAP or second semester Freshman year
Later	After Freshman year

Opinions about Athena:

When you started to use Athena, how difficult was it to learn to use?

Very easy	Easy	Moderate	Difficult	Very Difficult	No Answer
52	122	198	96	40	13
10%	23%	38%	18%	8%	2%

What do you like most about Athena (mark all that apply)?

Aspect of Athena	Mentioned by
Availability of clusters - I can log in from anywhere	414
I can gain access to my files from everywhere	368
It has communication tools such as Zephr and OLC	288
It is a stable environment, unlikely to crash	282
It has generally useful applications such as Matlab and Frame	248
I can customize my environment and it stays with me	201
It has specialized applications that I need for my courses	189
I can share files with friends and teachers	166

What do you like least about Athena?

Aspect of Athena	Mentioned by
It doesn't have standard MS Office applications like Word or Excel	291
It's difficult to navigate to find what I need	211
There's not enough good documentation	185
Lack of a graphical user interface for starting up applications	173
It's different from the OS that I run on my own machine	168
There is not enough support when I have questions	126

What are the three types of activities that you do most often on Athena?

Application	Mentioned by
Read and send email	371
Homework assignments	249
Browse the Web for leisure	174
Use the Web for classwork	169
Discuss, Zephyr, chat, bboards	156
Write papers (other than thesis)	55
On-line databases, including Libraries	44
Group projects for MIT subjects	25
Thesis research or writing	16

What are the three types of activities that you do most often on your own PC?

Application	Mentioned by
Read and send email	444
Browse the Web for leisure	290
Homework assignments	252
Discuss, Zephyr, chat, bboards	133
Write papers (other than thesis)	157
Use the Web for classwork	119
Thesis research or writing	50
On-line databases, including Libraries	40
Group projects for MIT subjects	21

How often do you use a Quickstation for short logins?

Never	Often	Sometimes	No Answer
88	142	284	7
17%	27%	55%	1%

Use of Athena third party software applications

Application	% of people who use it sometimes or often
Matlab	59%
Programming languages	48%
FrameMaker	34%
Maple	16%
Star Office	14%
Mathematica	12%
Xess	10%

Comparison of this survey with the Web-based survey with an equivalent number of responses in the Spring of 1998:

Percent of students who own a computer

Status	1998	2000
Undergrad	82%	92%
Grad Student	74%	92%
Total	80%	92%

In 1998, 15% of undergraduates responding owned two computers. In 2000, the corresponding percentage is 21%.

The distribution between PC, Macintosh, and Unix workstation has not changed.

Percent of students who own at least one laptop computer:

Status	1998	2000
Undergrad	12%	18%
Grad Student	27%	30%
Total	16%	21%

Percent of students who are connected to MITnet and who have a printer

	1998	2000
Own a printer	34%	48%
Are on MITnet	66%	80%
Printer and MITnet	27%	41%