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Earbuds, laptops, and cell phones are among the constants in the complex portrait of today’s returning college class, heading back to campus with a record number of gadgets enabling perpetual mobile connectivity.
These essential tools tether students to a sophisticated, wired campus, where connectedness extends from the dorm room to the classroom; and friends, professors, and troves of digital music are rarely out of touch.
Data released this week from the 2006 Alloy College Explorer Study, powered by Harris Interactive, shows that mobility is among students’ highest priorities. Students are spending a total of eleven hours of each day engaged with media and are constantly on the go.
The role of desktop computers is down 13 percent this year, with 50 percent of students going to class with a laptop. That 8 percent gain over the previous year may indicate students’ preference for mobility.
Students also hit wifi hotspots on campus to enjoy the nearly 3.5 hours of email, instant messaging, and web surfing they put in daily.
Campuses nationwide have ramped up to meet student demand for mobility and networked interaction. Twenty-nine percent of all schools provide blanket coverage, with 64 percent reporting such plans in the works.
The classroom lecture has gone digital as well, with a growing number of students utilizing their portable MP3 players to catch up by podcast.
As for cell phones, an additional 1.3 million students now own them and are spending nearly 20 minutes each day sending and receiving text messages. Of the 41 percent of students who own an MP3 player, 85 percent are plugged in to their portable MP3’s daily.
The role of “friends” has also evolved within the online world, empowered by the widespread adoption of social networking sites among students. Fully 85 percent of students who visit social networking sites use them to see what their friends are up to. On average, 18-24 year old students are hanging out on these sites for 6.5 hours a week. Students claim to have an average of 111 friends across many profiles online, changing the definition of today’s peer group and the way in which students connect with each other. And 61 percent of students on social networking sites say they are interacting with people they’ve never met in person.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Alloy Media + Marketing among 1,793 U.S. college students between April 14 and May 2, 2006.
College student research:
Reaching college students:
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