Having just completed its annual survey of residential undergraduate computing, Stanford University reports that 99% of students have their own computer, and 10% have two or more computers.

In Speaking of Computers, a campus e-newsletter, Rich Holeton writes, “Student Computing asks undergraduates who live on campus about their personal computing, technology use, and use of computer clusters and other learning spaces.” Results from that survey and a later survey of graduate students are used for strategic planning and operational decisions about services and facilities.

Highlights include:

• 99% have their own computer (10% have two or more computers)
• 93% have a laptop
• 66% have a Windows machine, 35% have a Mac (some have both)
• 66% have a portable music player (90% of those are iPods)
• 65% have their own printer
• 61% have a digital camera (many in cell phones)

Adds Holeton,

Over half of Stanford undergraduates say they bring their laptop to class at least once a week. In those classes, many students are using wikis (29%), blogs (14%), and other Web 2.0 technologies. Outside of class, nearly 90% of undergraduates regularly use social networking sites (primarily Facebook), 32% read blogs, and almost 20% upload content to photo-sharing or video-sharing sites such as Flickr or YouTube.

Additionally, 75% of undergraduates say they use their personal computer four hours a day or more. Students use their laptops primarily in the residences. Ninety-two percent regularly use their laptop in their own room, 61% in other student rooms, and 51% in other residential common spaces-with classrooms.

Their most common computer activities within five broad categories, writes Holeton, are academics (any course related computer or Internet use) and social interaction (Facebook, instant messaging, social email), followed by information (news, travel, jobs, etc.), entertainment, and commerce.

The University of Virginia has also released findings from its annual survey of first-year students. There, they found that laptops represent 97 percent of the computers that students own. “Having data on the almost total transition from desktops to laptops allowed us to reallocate our IT budget from computer labs into better wireless access coverage across campus,” noted Teresa Lockard, director of Computing Support Services in a university press release. “When every student has a laptop, every classroom with wireless becomes a computer-equipped space.” The release also noticed a sharp rise in the number of Mac computers.

* Stanford e-newsletter, Have Laptop, Will Travel: Results of 2007 Undergraduate Computing Survey

* UVA press release, Technology Survey of First-Years Shows Rise of iPods, Mac OS, Laptops