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January 10, 2007
Realities of the Net Generation
The latest ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology for 2006 was recently released. The findings in this report should give us both cause for celebration and cause for consideration. The study reports that 97.8% of students reported for college with a PC and 38.3% brought both a laptop and a desktop computer. The use of e-mail is at 99.9% and instant messaging at 80%. One interesting item here is that students seem to understand the relative value and appropriateness of each medium; they prefer to get official communication via e-mail. Among a wide variety of activities, the study reported that 27.7% report "using software to create or edit video and audio files." (p. 3-4)
According to ECAR, "respondents are generally confident in their skills using information technologies." However, the recent results from the ETS ICT Literacy Assessment had some evidence that either their definition is incomplete or the bar is rising.
Some of the most surprising preliminary research findings are that only 52% of test takers could correctly judge the objectivity of a Web site, and only 65% could correctly judge the site's authoritativeness. In a Web search task, only 40% entered multiple search terms to narrow the results. And when selecting a research statement for a class assignment, only 44% identified a statement that captured the demands of the assignment.
We also regularly hear that students crave more technology in their courses. The ECAR survey revealed that about 24% wanted extensive or exclusive use of IT, but 21% wanted limited or no IT use. Looks like college students are pretty much like the rest of the population with most (56%) wanting "moderate" amounts of IT.
One finding jumped out at me as pertinent to planning of classes or courses. "It remains clear after three years of study that a student's choice of academic major is closely associated with a set of IT skills, choices and preferences." (p. 9) This is where we, as teachers, really need to provide more opportunities within substantive, authentic experiences so that students can increase the range of the careers they view as viable options for themselves.
Posted by Pat on January 10, 2007 11:01 AM
