Shifting Patterns in IT Equipment and Communication Application Preferences among Study Beginners: A Longitudinal Analysis at TU Graz, Austria

Abstract

Within the last 11 years, more than 10.000 students participated in surveys amongst study beginners at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria. In autumn 2022, 1,089 students answered questions on their IT equipment, social media, and communication applications. While the evaluations of the last few years did not reveal major changes, this year is different: The apps Tiktok and Discord, newly introduced as an option in the survey, get equally large shares – of one-third and more than 40%, respectively. For the first time, the presentation of the survey data also includes questions regarding the usage of communication applications for learning. That shall give rise to future research on communication apps for teaching at TU Graz.

Full text

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Shifting Patterns in IT Equipment and Communication Application Preferences
among Study Beginners: A Longitudinal Analysis at TU Graz, Austria
Walther Nagler, TU Graz
Bettina Mair, TU Graz
Martin Ebner, TU Graz (presenter)
Sarah Edelsbrunner, TU Graz
Jakob Harden, TU Graz
Sandra Schön, TU Graz
July 2023, Vienna

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License
These slides may be used under the terms of the
CC licence CC BY 4.0 International
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).
Please use the links and references as sources for
individual illustrations, if applicable.

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Full paper Will be published in the EdMedia Proceedings as:
Nagler, W., Mair, B., Ebner, M., Edelsbrunner, S.,
Harden, J. & Schön, S. (2023). Shifting Patterns in IT
Equipment and Communication Application
Preferences among Study Beginners: A Longitudinal
Analysis at Graz University of Technology, Austria

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Agenda
•Background
•Research Question and Design
•Results
•Discussion and Outlook

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Background: TU Graz
Higher Education in Austria, Europe
•9 million inhabitants, ❤ of Europe
•22 public universities (51,000 students) (plus 21
universities of applied sciences, teacher training
colleges and private universities)
•Most students attend public universities with
comparably low fees (similar to Germany)
Graz University of Technology (TU Graz)
•Founded in 1811
More than 13,700 regular students
•7 faculties, 97 institutes, 3 campus locations
•About 180 Million Euro federal budget, 80
Million third-party funds
Source:
Bundesministerium für Bildung,
Wissenschaft und Forschung,
https://www.bmbwf.gv.at/Themen/HS-
Uni/Hochschulsystem.html,Statistisches
Jahrbuch
https://www.bmbwf.gv.at/dam/jcr:00d23d
52-ba98-44a2-acf0-
9188afc830c2/Stat_TB_2022_BF.pdf
Source: Homepage TU Graz, 12.6.2023

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Background: Welcome Days (1/2)
•Welcome Days: Introduction days for first-year students
(BA) at Graz University of Technology.
•Aim: Provide essential information for a successful start
to studies and introduce students to the engineering
profession.
•Longitudinal Survey: Conducted since 2009 to gather
data on IT equipment and communication tool usage.
•Topics Covered: IT equipment, communication tools,
and more.
•Results: Published annually in the EdMedia
Proceedings.

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Background: Welcome Days (2/2)
•Unique Study: No similar longitudinal survey on IT
equipment in higher education.
•Valuable Insights: Reveals trends and changes in
IT equipment ownership among students.
•Importance: Understanding students' technology
preferences and needs.
•Implications: Informing decision-making processes
related to technology infrastructure and support.
•Future Research: Opportunities for further
exploration and analysis based on the survey
findings.

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Research Questions
1. How has the digital equipment of first-year
students at TU Graz evolved over the past 11 years
(2011-2022)?
2. How is the utilization of digital communication and
social media applications shifting among first-year
students at TU Graz?
3. What do we know about the usage of messaging
services for learning?

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Research Design
•Annual survey amongst study beginner at
Welcome Days at TU Graz
•Paper-Pencil-Based
•In 2022 1,089 participants

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Results (1/7): Participants

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Results (2/7): IT Equipment

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Results (3/7): Wearables and other digital
equipment

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Results (4/7): Social Media tools

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Results (5/7): Digital leisure: No big changes

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Results (6/7): Communication applications: WhatsApp
revival and new on stage: Discord

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Results (7/7): General use and use for learning
purposes of communication tools

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Discussion and Outlook (1/2)
•Tiktok and Discord, newly included
options in the survey, gained significant
shares (one-third and over 40%
respectively).
•Consistent with Austrian studies indicating
the growing importance of Tiktok and
Discord among young people (Safer-
Internet.at, 2021).

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Discussion and Outlook (2/2)
Current consideration on following studies by Jakob Harden:
•Students express a desire for teacher involvement in
messaging services for questions and scheduling.
•Privacy and quick response time are important to students.
•Arifianto & Izzudin (2021) reported high student acceptance
when Discord was used for lectures.
Next steps: Additional survey amongst students concerning the
possibilities to use communication tools for learning
support/studies is under consideration.

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Contact
Dr. Martin Ebner (head of Educational Technology team)
Graz University of Technology
martin.ebner@tugraz.at