Project Eagle Research Capsules (PERC) #5February 2002

Statistics of Interest to E-Learning Planners from Three Recent Studies

A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Economics and Statistics Administration
February 2002
(Includes data released in September 2001 by the U. S. Census Bureau
and previously reported on in Project Eagle Research Capsule 3, October 2001

The current rate of growth of Internet use in the U. S. is 2 million new users per month
Households with children under the age of 18 are more likely to access the Internet (62%) than households with no children (53%).
Between December 1998 and September 2001, Internet use by individuals in the lowest-income households (those earning less than $15,000 per year) increased at a 25% annual growth rate. Internet use among individuals in the highest-income households (those earning $75,000 per year or more) increased from a higher base but at a much slower 11% annual growth rate.
Between August 2000 and September 2001, Internet use among Blacks and Hispanics increased at annual rates of 33 and 30%, respectively. Whites and Asian American/Pacific Islanders experienced annual growth rates of approximately 20% during these same periods.
Over the 1998 to 2001 period, growth in Internet use among people living in rural households has been at an average annual rate of 24%, and the percentage of Internet users in rural areas (53%) is now almost even with the national average (54%).
Between August 2000 and September 2001, residential use of high-speed, broadband service doubled--from about 4 to 11% of all individuals, and from 11 to 20% of Internet users.
45% of the population now uses e-mail, up from 35% in 2000. About one-third of Americans use the Internet to search for product and service information (36%, up from 26% in 2000).
Among Internet users, 39% are making online purchases and 35% are searching for health information.
The presence in a household of someone who uses a computer at work makes it far more likely -by a margin of approximately 77 to 35%- that the household owns a computer or uses the Internet at home.
A new gap in Internet use is emerging: the difference between how experienced users and those with little experience online use the Internet.

From the report: "With more than half of all Americans using computers and the Internet, we are truly a nation online. At work, schools, and libraries, as well as at home, the Internet is being used by a greater number of Americans."

Surveying the Digital Future

The UCLA Internet Report 2001
UCLA Center for Communication Policy
November 2001

Total Internet access in the United States - 72.3% (2000-66.9%).
Average use per week 9.8 hours (2000 - 9.4 hours).
Most popular activities - email/instant messaging; Web browsing; buying online; finding entertainment information; reading news
Primary reasons for going online - to obtain information quickly; work needs; access to email.
Internet users with broadband report 3.2 more online hours per week than users who connect with a telephone modem.

From the report: "The 2001 UCLA Internet Project leaves little doubt that the Internet is now a mainstream activity in American life that continues to spread among people across all age groups, education levels, and income."

eCommerce Comes Slowly to the Campus

The 2001 National Survey of Information Technology in U. S. Higher Education
September 2001

27.6% of U. S. colleges and universities can process credit card payments from their campus Web sites (2000 - 18.6%).
11.8% have a strategic plan for eCommerce (2000 - 6.8%).
55.4% offer online course registration (2000 - 43.1%). .
18% reported a decline in their academic computing budget for the year (2000 - 11.4%).
51.6 % reported an increase in their academic computing budget for the year (2000 - 58%).
18.3% reported a decline in the budget for administrative computing (2000 - 11.7%).
24.3% have a strategic plan for wireless networks; 32.1% are developing one.
50.6% have functioning wireless LANs (2000 -29.6%); 10.8% will be functional this year.
73.2% have established a single product standard for course management software (2000 -57.8%).
20.6% of all college courses now use course management tools (2000 - 14.7%).
71.5% of all students own computers (2000 - 58.6%); 55 .7% own desktops, 15.8% laptops

From the report: The annual Campus Computing Survey is based on data provided by campus officials at 590 two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities. The survey was completed during the summer and fall of 2001.

www.spjc.edu/eagle/research/perc/perc5.htm
For a list of previous Project Eagle Research Capsules, go to www.spcollege.edu/eagle/research/perc/index.htm
For more information, contact the project manager: lechnerj@spcollege.edu

The contents of PERC were developed under a grant from the U. S. Department of Education (DOE). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the DOE, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.