URL: http://gscp.org/components/survey3.htm
Results of survey conducted at Vasant Vidyalaya HS Respondents Profile 30 students 9 males, 21 females from grade 9 9 were 16-18 year range, 21 were 13-15 years range Background - Vasant Vidyalaya is a secondary school with a total enrollment of about 200 students from middle and lower class located in Siolim, a town of about 10,000 people. The school has a computer lab of 7 PCs, 2 (Windows) provided by Government and 4 (Linux) provided by GSCP in 2002, and 1 PC (Windows) additionally provided by the government in 2003. In the last semester of 2002-2003 academic year, 2 subject teachers were trained, and the social sciences teacher taught 3 Geography lesson in the computer lab using prepared lesson plans. In the same semester, children were permitted to use the computer lab after school hours on payment of a Rs. 10 per month fee. Internet use was demonstrated but not permitted on a regular basis because of phone cost considerations. Results - Respondents indicated that * English is their favorite subject (50%), followed by Art, Math and Science (30% each) (100% of students responded to this question) * They had been using PCs for less than a year (7%), 1-2 years (63%), 2-4 years (30%). This is consistent with Vasant Vidyalaya aquiring PCs 2 years ago Students who have used PCs for more than 2 years mostly have one at home or at a relative/friends home (100% of students responded) * Only 16% of students claim to have taught themselves to use computers, the rest said that their computer Teacher taught them (100% of students responded) * Software used by students at school other than spreadsheets, word-processor and paint tool Games (60%) and educational software (only 50%) (85% of students responded) * Favorite activity By far, Games (70%) and Paint (90%) were students favorite activites (85% of students responded) * Major challenges Using keyboard and mouse Technical problems Too many students, not enough time (74 % of students responded) * Accessibility of computers after school hours 30% of students said the computers were always accessible, 10% said they were sometimes accessible, 55% said they were never accessible 43% said they use computers after school hours (97% responded) This implies that the benefits of After hours school access were not reaching all students (did this mean the Rs. 10 per student was too much?) * Students opinion on the importance of computers Computers very Important for Learning computer skills For Job in future To learn new things Help with schoolwork Computers somewhat important for To find or access information To communicate with others (97% responded) This indicates that students are aware of the relationship between computer skills and future employment. The lower perceived importance for accessing information and communication reflects the fact that internet is not used appreciably yet. * How useful are the following to help you learn Teachers 70% Textbooks 40% Your parents 60% Your friends 60% Computers 73% CD-Rom 30% (100% responded) This would seem to suggest that teachers and computers are the most helpful for students learning experience. However, given that only 30% thought educational CD-ROMs were useful, the concept of learning experience was probably not clear enough. The interpretation of the following section on student opinions should be treated with care as students had difficulty understanding the question format. Neutral implies that the student did not have an opinion. * 12% think that do not like school (20% neutral) (83% of students responded) * 50% think that computers have made them like school more (33% neutral) (80% of students responded) * 33% think that they know more about computers than my teachers (70% of students responded) * 71% think that computers have made them better students (14% neutral) (70% of students responded) * 42% think that most teachers seem afraid to use computers in the classroom (33% neutral) (70% of students responded) * 57% say that their parents have never used computers (63% of students responded) * 57% think that their parents are very interested in their use of computers (63% of students responded) * 52 % would prefer to use computers alone when using computers in school (11% neutral) (60% of students responded) * Based on their experience with computers so far 50% want to use computers in your future profession (% neutral) (66 % of students responded) What did we learn from this survey * Identifying students least favorite subject opens the possibility of targeting the use of computer assisted teaching to make that subject more interesting * Students indicating that Paint and Games as favorite activities combined with the fact that they do not have frequent access to educational software raises the possibility that computers are becoming purely an entertainment tool * Identifying the major challenges faced by students using computers tells us that at grade 8 students still have a problem using keyboard and mouse (learning computers starts in grade 7 or earlier). Technical difficulties (hardware and software problems) are also mentioned, which raises the issue of timely maintenance and repair of equipment by school management * That a large minority of students are not overly impressed by their teachers computer knowledge or teaching ability. This suggests opportunities to improve teacher training. * That apparently the after hours access served only half the students. The reason for this need to be investigated. * The fact that most students do not indicate need to use computer alone, yet indicate that lack of computer time is a problem, means that the issue is not necessarily one of needing one computer per student, but of better utilization. * Response to the importance of computers and whether students will seek a career in IT suggests a way to bridge the gap between learning computer skills and applying them, is needed such as an internship program. Note The survey was a pilot survey designed by the Information Technology Group (ITG) at Harvard University and conducted by Daryl Martyris for GSCP. On the cards Surveys for the remaining GSCP supported schools, surveys with a control group to study differences of perceptions between kids with and without access to PCs (perhaps the same class before it had access to PCs), and a tracer study to see the career path the these 2 groups follow. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
