Computer access and use: understanding the expectations of Indian rural students

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to understand the expectations of rural students with respect to their computer access and use. It also made an attempt to learn the expectations of rural students from their schools and local government in providing the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach – Interview schedules were used to collect the necessary data from the rural students. The interview schedules consisted of various questions that were designed to elicit the expectations of rural students in terms of their usage of computers. A total of 300 interview schedules were collected from the students, and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Windows 19.0 version) to test the formulated hypothesis. Findings – This study clearly showed that 72 per cent of female and 63.33 per cent of male students have not used a computer. Most of the students opined that lack of support from teachers (91.57 per cent = Male, 94.25 per cent = Female) and non-availability of computers at home and schools (82.10 per cent = Male, 80.55 per cent = Female) were the main reasons for not using the computer. A notable finding of the study was that 93.68 per cent of male and 95.37 per cent of female students were interested in using a computer. Most of the students opined that the state/local government should establish computer laboratories and provide Internet facilities in rural schools. Originality/value – This paper has provided useful empirical data regarding the expectations of rural students with respect to their access and use of computers. The results of this study will be more helpful to school authority and government in providing necessary ICT infrastructure to rural schools.