By the time they reach university more than 75 per cent of students have a profile on at least one social networking site and typically spend four hours a day online, according to a new report by an independent committee of inquiry examining how students’ widespread use of social networking impacts on higher education (HE).

Launched on the 12th of May, the report finds that universities and colleges are generally falling behind their students in the use of these technologies and challenges them, and the major educational agencies, to take account of, and capitalise on, these trends.

The study reveals how web activities have replaced TV in the daily diary of a typical teenager. With primary school children and adults also increasingly adopting such technologies, becoming regular users themselves, this trend is only like to accelerate. It is therefore vital the HE community and other parts of the education system re-evaluate their evolution in order to meet such fast-paced change.

The report also evidences how Web 2.0, the Social Web, is having a profound effect on behaviour, particularly, but not exclusively, among young people whose medium it is. With today’s teenagers and primary school children so well-versed in technologies that enable instant communication, collaboration, information creation, participation and sharing, it is clear how students are very often more advanced than their tutors in their use of these technologies.

Indeed, young people inhabit the Web 2.0 world with enviable ease and it leads them to a strong sense of community and their own ability to be creators of information which is world-wide in its reach. It also leads them in their studies to a desire for instant answers and a casual approach to critical evaluation, plagiarism and information ownership – key issues which demand attention from HE and other parts of the education system.

The report evaluates the challenges for universities and their staff in keeping pace with, and capitalising on, these trends and argues there are very strong drivers for change. The report makes 21 far-reaching recommendations to UK universities and colleges as well as to strategic educational bodies aimed at ensuring that HE continues to provide an up-to-date, challenging and relevant experience for students.

Download the CLEX Higher Education in a Web2.0 world (PDF – 1.57MB)