UK universities must offer a digital experience

Technology savvy children are the key to competing within a knowledge based economy

UK universities are failing to provide the digital learning environment future undergraduates expect.

Sixty-seven per cent of 13-17 year olds say technology will influence their choice of university, says a report commissioned by service provider Logicalis.

And 46 per cent of students expect lectures to be available as podcasts online.

The technologically sophisticated expectations of children born after 1990 are fuelled by the growing use of internet-powered communications services and social networking sites used day-to-day with peers.

Ninety-one per cent of children surveyed to use instant messaging at least once a week and more than 50 per cent used it daily.

Eighty-seven per cent said they were members of an online community, more than a third have written their own blog and nearly half have read somebody else’s.

Based on a comparative study, UK childrens’ use of personal technology exceeds their US counterparts putting the UK in a strong position globally to compete on both an academic and business stage.

But the latest available OECD figures ranked the UK, 13 out of 30 countries, for investment in research and development, universities and software tools.

The UK’s ability to maintain its position as a leading knowledge economy over the next 20 years will depend on measures taken today, says Logicalis UK managing director Tom Kelly.

‘Gordon Brown recently re-emphasised the importance of realising the talents of all our people, in his vision of Britain as the great global success story of the century,’ said Kelly.

‘In an increasingly global market, the future of our economy will be defined by whether a 13 year old in Bolton can compete for that knowledge economy job, against a 13 year old in Bangladesh or Beijing,’ he said.