Last week, I finished my 12 hours of observation in general access computer labs on a college campus. Now that I have had time to examine my field notes for patterns and start coming up with conclusions, I have noticed several general categories that were of particular interest to me. I will discuss the most prominent of these patterns in this blog.
Social Networking:
Facebook was by far the most popular site visited by students in the labs. Also, it was often the first Web site that students went on when they logged into their computers. The most common activity that students pursued while on Facebook was to look at pictures that their friends had posted on the site. One female student in computer lab 1 spent 45 minutes looking at various “photo albums” and making comments on individual pictures. Twice, she laughed quietly at something amusing in the photographs. Another common task that students performed on Facebook was to write “wall posts” on their friends’ profiles. This activity is presumably a way for students to keep in touch with their companions in a way that is simple and convenient. Wall posts are typically short messages that are sent in seconds. They are an easy way for a student to communicate with a friend without having to speak to him or her in person or over the phone.
Often, students would check their Facebook account several times in the course of their stay in the computer lab. I noticed one female student in particular (who was in computer lab 2) who had Facebook and Microsoft Word up on her computer at the same time. She was typing a paper, and every few minutes, she would call up her Facebook profile to see if there was anything new. Facebook is constantly updated with new information, and it seems that students are eager to stay up-to-date with the latest headlines.
Now that I have collected my data and written a coded observation report detailing what I have noticed, I will begin to write the findings section of my paper. During my observations, I noticed general patterns regarding behavior and Internet use, and I will use these patterns to make conclusions about the use of general access computer labs by college students.
