The Pew Internet and American Life Project has just recently published information that directly impacts college campuses. Teens, technology and school (PDF) is a good indicator that this year's incoming class is an Internet savy bunch. Here are a few of the highlights from the report:
- Teen use of the internet at school has grown 45% since 2000
- 68% of teenagers have used the internet at school
- 18% of teen who use th e internet from multiple locations list school as the location where they go online most
- 86% of teens (and 88% of online teens) believe that internet helps teens do better in school
- 37% of teens feel that "too many" teens use the internet to cheat on schoolwork
- 75% of teens use Instant Messaging - girls ages 15 to 17 are most likely to use IM
- 57% of all teens have gone online to get information about a college, university, or other school they were thinking about attending.
- 85% of 17 year olds have used the internet to get information on schools of interest
Ray Schroeder and Anne Collier have a few thoughts on the same report. Randy Ziegenfuss raises the question, "How are schools meeting the needs of the tech savvy teen? How will our unwillingness to ‘catch up’ impact the future of schools?"