IT skills of students enrolled in a first-year undergraduate unit

The use of computers is becoming more widespread in education and in the wider workforce. This communication reports the results of a survey of first-year undergraduate students at Deakin University, conducted at the beginning of the 2000 academic year. The high penetration of IT usage in this university sample is similar to that of a recent survey of school students conducted by Meredyth et al. [Real Time: Computers, Change and Schooling, DETYA, Canberra, 1999]. The present study indicates that the level of IT skills is variable. There is an urgent need for IT training for university students in order to achieve successful learning outcomes using IT and to satisfy the needs of future employers.