15 Years Later

I work at an institution of higher learning where I work among college students, so I am somewhat familiar with what college students do.  Lately I have been thinking about the differences between going to school in the late 1990s compared with going to school today.  The other day at lunch I mentioned that I actually complained my senior year in college to a university administrator about the noise ONE of the students made because she dared to bring her laptop to our class; boy was I off the mark on that one.  There have been a lot of other changes since I've graduated, here are some of the ones I have seen:

• About 95+% students have their own cell phone; I passed a stack of about 100 untaken campus phone directories today, not taken because 95+% students do not use their campus extensions anymore.
• Most students have their own computer, many of them are laptops; schools are phasing out computer labs because they are not being used like they once were.
• Students don’t use CD players anymore; mp3s started to arrive while I was in college, but now they are phasing out.
• Professors are using the internet not just for research; but for students to dialog, publish and take quizzes and exams.
• Students are playing video games, watching TV and movies over the internet; in 1996 we were excited to get our first email account.
• So many students have their own GPS; when I was a student, we just hoped the students who had the car knew how to get home, but getting lost was half the fun.
• In 1997 I was excited because I brought our family video camera to school that recorded on a full sized VHS tape; today you probably get a better quality from your cell phone and you can share it right away on the internet.
• One of the best things about being on a campus was going to concerts; today students don’t really get into live music, but one of today’s favorite gifts is iTunes gift cards.

So there are a lot of differences between today’s students and those in the NOT SO DISTANT past.  It would be interesting to look at comparisons between these times with regards to sense of community, quality of relationships, academic prowess, and emotional stability of students.  Much has changed but at the same time much is still the same like students still spend a lot of time watching TV, movies and playing video games.  Music is still important and students still swear they “study better” listening to it. Students still go shopping but now they can shop at the mall, online, or online when they are at the mall.