Views of the first cohort of HKU notebook programme participants

In 1998, the University of Hong Kong was the first tertiary institution in Asia to implement a campuswide notebook computer programme, where each incoming student is enabled to own a personal notebook computer. At the beginning of each year, incoming students are surveyed to collect baseline data about their self-reported computer skills and their attitudes about computer use in education. In mid-May 2001, at the end of their undergraduate education, the 1998 cohort was surveyed again to gauge the changes, if any, in the skills and attitudes of the students after three years of study at the university and to collect the opinions of the students for future directives concerning IT in education at the University. Generally, students who participated in the notebook programme were satisfied and found the ThinkPads to be useful in their coursework and studies, using them for about 14 hours a week for school work.