Since their introduction into higher education institutions, information technology (IT) resources have become an indispensable, dynamic and controversial component of teaching- and research-related activities. This article explores some of the complex issues surrounding such resources through a study of the most representative IT incidents that occurred at the University of Oviedo and in one of its faculties, specifically the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. It also aims to provide some guidelines to improve decision making in this particular field, and also to disseminate a number of significant findings in relation to the use of such technologies by higher education centres.

To that end, incidents reported at the University of Oviedo (with 30,000 people across four campuses) over three consecutive academic years are analysed. Incidents occurring in computers (which may include software and peripheral devices) used by students and lecturers in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education’s classrooms are also analysed. The results obtained show that, while the number of IT devices has increased, the number of incidents has remained constant. This indicates that users are able to use them better. Most of the problems reported by the university and faculty alike were connected with software. This suggests that robust centralised services for program updating and maintenance are required.