IT skills of university students in 2001

Abstract

This paper is the second in a series of investigations on the computer skills of undergraduate students at the start of university. The use of computers is becoming more widespread in education and in the wider Australian community. Increasingly, universities are depending more on information technology (IT) in their mainstream activities. Some examples of IT usage in Australian university teaching and learning include: • dissemination of materials through the Web, email, bulletin boards, etc.; • on-line assessment; • electronic submission of assignments; • typed (word processed) reports; and • collaborative and cooperative learning through discussion groups and computer-mediated communication. General university policy and the use of information technology (IT) in university teaching and learning are implicitly based on the assumption that university students are becoming more computer literate.