A majority (68%) of college students think online
classes are important to their educational experience and that social media
will eventually be required in all classes. They’ve also taken at least one
online course, with 42% saying they got better grades in the online class
compared to in-person courses.
The study, conducted annually by Wakefield Research for
VitalSource Technologies, found that 45% of the students said they didn’t go
more than 10 minutes without accessing some form of technology during the
school day. However, students may be learning how to regulate their usage as
the average time they said they could possibly go without digital interaction
increased from 59 minutes in the 2013 study to 64 minutes this year.
Most students (62%) said they have used interactive
textbooks and 44% use mobile learning. The report also found that 77% said a
professor had used or asked them to use at least one social media site for a
class.
“The findings validate students’ dependence on
technology to increase their productivity and job prospects in this
competitive, globally connected world, while also providing insights into
market trends that will affect the next generation of educational technology,”
Cindy Clarke, vice president of marketing for VitalSource, said in a report in eCampus News.
