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• 8. Computers in NZ Schools

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The information in this section is taken from a survey of New Zealand schools and was provided by the Ministry of Education. The survey results were originally published by the Ministry of Education in November 1996 . The survey aimed to determine the numbers and types of computers in New Zealand schools and the extent to which schools are, or intend to be connected to the Internet.

All New Zealand schools - a total of 2,736 - were sent forms to complete. 2,673 schools responded, a 98% response rate. However, further information received from schools following the survey indicated that a number treated the survey as relating to only those computers used for administration and did not include those used in classrooms. Additionally a number of schools did not include those computers considered to be ‘useless’ or obsolete. These two factors suggest the numbers used here tend to underestimate the actual numbers of computers in New Zealand schools.

Almost all New Zealand schools have computer equipment of some kind available. The survey found a total of 51,920 computers available for staff or student use among the responding schools, or on average 19.4 computers per school. The chart below shows what type of computers were found to be available. As can be seen, the majority of these were IBM compatible PCs. Computers in the ‘other’ category cover a diverse range, including models that may be considered outdated.

Types of Computer in New Zealand Schools in 1996

A breakdown of the IBM compatible PCs category by processor class is shown below. The most common type is the PC based on the 486 chip and there were 11,909 of these in use, or 44% of all PC type computers. This type is also the most common overall, representing 23% of all the computers available in schools.

Types of PCs in Use in New Zealand Schools in 1996

8.1 Student-Computer Ratios

The number of computers per student across all schools and by school type is described in this section. As the survey did not discriminate between computers used by teachers and those used by students, the number of computers used is the total number of computers reported. Schools were only included if information was available on both the number of computers and the student roll as at July 1995.

The following chart shows the mean student-computer ratio for each school type - primary (including intermediate), composite (including area) and secondary - and the overall mean student-computer ratio. The latter was taken as the mean of all the student-computer ratios calculated for each school. Each school’s student-computer ratio was calculated as the total number of computers available for use at the school divided by the school’s roll as at July 1995.

As can be clearly seen, secondary schools had a higher number of computers available per student than primary and composite schools.

Mean Student-Computer Ratio By School Type in 1996

8.2 Internet Connections in Schools

The survey also asked respondents several questions about the Internet. Each school was asked if they had any computers connected to the Internet, and if so, how many were e-mail connected only and how many were connected for both e-mail and world wide web access.

Number of Internet Connections by Type and Schools in 1996

The chart above shows that 859 or 32% of the responding schools had at least one computer connected to the Internet and the majority of Internet connections are ‘full’ connections ie both e-mail and the world wide web. Only 173 or 20% of the connected schools had an e-mail only connection.

While the absolute numbers of primary schools with a connection is higher than the number of secondary and composite schools, just 585 or 26% of primary schools had a connection, while 47 (54%) of the composite schools and 227 (68%) of the secondary schools had an Internet connection.

8.3 Intention to Connect to the Internet

To gauge the future growth of Internet connections in schools, those schools not yet connected to the Internet were asked whether they intended to connect to the Internet by January 1998. The following chart indicates that a majority (83%) of the schools without an Internet connection were intending to connect by January 1998. Almost all (93%) of the unconnected secondary schools were intending to connect and 82% of the unconnected primary schools also intended to get connected by January 1998.

Schools Intending to Connect to the Internet by January 1998

Source: J Larry Owens: A Survey of Computer Use in New Zealand Schools; Ministry of Education Research Bulletin, Wellington, November 1996.