Although 98 percent of college administrators say that learning and mastering technology skills will improve their students’ educational and career opportunities, far fewer – just 22 percent – say that using technology to enhance the learning process is one of their top priorities, according to CDW-G’s 2011 21st-Century Campus Report. Even further down on administrators’ priority list, at just 12 percent, is improving and enhancing campus Information Technology (IT). 

One reason for this disconnect is budget, according to administrators and IT staff. Administrators say that their top priorities for the 2011-2012 school year are attracting and retaining students and addressing funding shortfalls. IT staff report that the biggest challenge to technology on campus is also budget.

Other key findings from the CDW-G 21st-Century Campus Report include:

• Tech use is up: Thirty-one percent use technology as a learning tool every day, up from 19 percent last year
• Mobility makes an impact: Faculty and IT staff report that e-readers, media tablets and smartphones are essential technologies
• Faculty still struggle with technology: Students, faculty and administrators all report that the biggest challenge to campus technology is that faculty do not know how to use it.