Abstract
Many college professors assume incoming students are technologically savvy and have the appropriate computer skills for college. This research
was conducted to determine if students perceive themselves to have appropriate computer skills upon entering college. A survey of incoming freshmen at the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (OSU ATI) was conducted in orientation classes during Autumn Quarter, 2010. Students were asked to rate their perceived level of computer competence in several areas including: email, digital photo editing, Internet research, word processing, spreadsheets and database usage. Most students felt their skills to be intermediate in the areas of email, Internet research and word processing. Skills in digital photo editing and spreadsheets were perceived as between beginner and intermediate, indicating less confidence and/or experience in these areas. Almost all of the students felt that computer skills would be helpful in college and that college would only add to their skills. Additionally, almost 90% of the students brought a computer to campus. Intriguingly, fewer than 8% of students reported that computers would not be helpful in their college careers, nor would they be helpful in their future careers.
Keywords
technology skills, freshmen, OSU ATI, internet research, word processing, spreadsheets, digital photo editing, computer usage
 Hostetler_Sept2012.pdf | [ ] | 307 kB |
