Mathemagenic

Are You Ready for the Next Wave of Workplace Learners? by Margaret Driscoll [via LTI newsletter]:

The Internet has breathed new life into self-directed learning. In a 2001 study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, adults and teens were asked how they use the Internet. Do they use it to teach themselves new things or to answer a specific question? The study found that 80-percent of all Internet users use the Internet to answer a specific question. More surprising, the study found that during a typical day, 16-percent of adult Internet users go online to answer a question. With this in mind, training organizations should consider leveraging learning strategies that take advantage of informal, self-directed, and collaborative learning.

The report is here - The Internet and Education: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. I checked some other reports too.

College Students and the Web (2001):

Sites with high proportions of college traffic:

[...]Livejournal.com, an online personal journal service, had the highest composition of visitors from the university audience (20 percent).

The Internet Goes to College: How Students are Living in the Future with Today's Technology (2001) - "college students say the Internet has enhanced their education". Some highlights

Almost half (46%) of college students agree that email enables them to express ideas to a professor that they would not have expressed in class, but, some interactions are still primarily face-to-face: Only 19% of students said they communicate more with their professors via email than they do face-to-face.

Two-thirds (68%) of college students reported subscribing to one or more academic-oriented mailing lists that relate to their studies. They use these lists to carry on email discussions about topics covered in their classes.

Two others I may need:

• Email at work: Few feel overwhelmed and most are pleased with the way email helps them do their jobs (2002)
• Counting on the Internet: Most expect to find key information online, most find the information they seek, many now turn to the Internet first (2002)