Email, Instant Messaging (IM), online user groups and message boards all facilitate communication with faculty and classmates. The efficiency and immediacy of this type of communication means that students can ask questions and engage in dialogue about their course material at virtually any time and place.
Before advancements in computer technology brought us books and articles online, college students were limited to materials they could physically access. Whether they were from the library or the bookstore, students had to rely on hard copy material that might be out-of-stock or signed-out.
Before email proliferated college campuses, students had to find a way to ensure that their hard copy assignments made it into the hands of their instructors by a strict deadline. Any obstacles that prohibited the transmission of this hard copy paper, including ones that were out of the student’s control, such as weather or illness, still jeopardized that student’s grade. Nowadays, students can email assignments to their teachers from home.
For freshman students especially, college can at times be an isolating and overwhelming experience. In certain colleges, the sheer number of students per class can inhibit their ability to get to know one another as friends or even acquaintances. Social networking sites such as Facebook, which was originally created by and for college students, can help students put names to the faces they see every day and forge social ties.
Thanks to the Internet, college professors who once had to print and distribute hard copies of the syllabus and other course material can now post them directly to a website. Students, in turn, no longer have to cleave to these pieces of paper or track down the professor for additional copies if they’re lost. Thanks to the computer technology of e-book readers, text books can also be downloaded, instead of carried from class to class.
The efficiency and portability of laptop computers has benefited college students by virtually eliminating the need to take class notes by hand. Typing can produce class notes much more quickly and legibly.