In 1999, a questionnaire was administered by WestEd to students in southeastern Utah in Grades 4-12 to gather baseline data about students’ uses of low-tech and high-tech media, in school and in informal situations. Students were asked to self-rate their skill with common hardware and software. They were asked about their attitudes toward technology use. Questionnaires were completed by 3575 students for a response rate of 27%.  The full study, Student Uses of Information Technology in Rural Utah, is available on-line at www.wested.org/tie/surweb (Tyner, 1999).

In 2000, 822 elementary and middle school students responded to a follow-up questionnaire that was administered in SURWEB-using classrooms in both rural and urban areas of the state of Utah Results were compared to the 1999 baseline data.  Students Uses of Technologies for Learning (Tyner & Roush, 2000) reports the way that Utah students access and use a wide range of analog and digital resources for learning, in addition to SURWEB. The students responded to questions about their access to technology; their skill in using hardware and software; where they are most likely to use computers; how much time they spend with computers; the way that activities are incorporated into the learning environment; and their attitudes about the value of technology. Results of the 2000 study, Student Uses of Technologies for Learning: A Survey of SURWEB Users in Utah is located in Appendix I.

When compared with their peers across the country, the students in classrooms that use SURWEB reflected positive attitudes about the positive value of computers and report widespread use of the computer at home.  Boys and girls responded to the questions in much the same way, indicating that gender makes little difference in students’ uses of technology for learning. Table 11 displays the percentages of students who reported intermediate and advanced levels of skill using various technology tools and compares them to the 1999 baseline data.

Table 11: Comparison of Students Who Report Intermediate/Advanced Skills

                 with Technology Tools in 1999 and 2000