Data for the SUNY Oswego Student Survey on Attitudes Towards Technology was collected in Spring 2019 and analyzed in Spring 2020. In total, there were 367 participants composed of freshmen and seniors from the college. Of the 367 participants, 221 (60.4%) were seniors, 127 were freshmen (34.6%), and 19 (5.2%) did not classify their academic year. Four majors were responsible for three-quarters of the data set. Stem majors (23.2%), Social Science majors (19.6%), Business Administration (17.2%), and Communication (14.4%).
Although over half (52.6%) of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that having their phone near them was a distraction, participants also said that they rely heavily on their internet access to maintain their coursework. 85.8% of participants said they strongly agreed or agreed they would not be able to maintain coursework without the internet. They also found it essential to have access to the internet, because, without it, it would impact their academic performance. 77.7% either strongly agreed or agreed that not having access to high-speed internet would impact their academic performance.
Many participants are receiving news solely from social media platforms. Over 50% of participants rely on social media to receive breaking news both nationally and internationally. Two-thirds of the participants strongly agreed or agreed that they were notified by important issues through social media that they would not have seen elsewhere. When it comes to receiving news, more than 60% said they fact check or cross-check news stories.
The data analysis found that more than 43% of participants use more than one news source, and rely on many new sources. More than 68% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that they used the information found on social networking sites to look up more information on social issues. In addition, 45% of respondents did not agree that they use the Internet to check up someone they have dated. The vast majority (more than 80%) of respondents agree or strongly agree that young people share more information about themselves than they have in the past. The data also found that 77.4% of the participants check their phones as soon as they wake up. More than 70% of participants agree to often text while doing other tasks. More than 82% of respondents do not believe that the government respects their online privacy. The majority of participants (58%) also agreed that the Internet has had a positive impact on their lives.
An independent samples test was conducted in order to compare the differences between freshman and seniors. This independent samples test found that seniors rely on high speed internet access significantly more than freshman (mean for seniors=4.30 and mean for freshman=4.03). This may not seem like much of a difference but it was significant according to the independent samples test conducted in SPSS. This could be due to the fact the seniors might have a heavier workload. Freshman however are significantly more likely to lose focus in class/work by checking their cell phones than seniors (mean for seniors=2.69 and mean for freshman= 3.06).
An independent samples test was conducted in order to compare the differences between COM and STEM students. These majors were the only ones according to the independent samples test that had any significant differences. COM majors believe that online courses offer the same level of education as courses taken in person, while STEM majors are significantly less likely to think the same. COM majors are also more likely to use a laptop, smartphone and tablet in class, compared to STEM majors. COM students are also significantly more likely fact check or cross check stories.