THE ERGONOMIC IMPACT OF STUDENT USE OF LAPTOPS IN UNIVERSITY SETTINGS

摘要

Computer-based tools are nowadays highly integrated into university activities. Students are expected to use desktop and online tools both for specific course requirements and for communication within the university community. Increasingly, students are bringing personal laptop computers to college for these purposes. In response, there are moves in some universities to close down computer rooms and rely only on student laptops for student computer access. This proposal raises a number of ergonomic concerns. This research surveyed students and teaching staff in a major UK city university about student laptop use, to build a broad structured picture of the ergonomic factors currently influencing laptop use by students in a university setting. This paper reports preliminary results from the student survey and the complementary teaching staff survey.