Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Mindset List for the College Class of 2012

This month, almost 2 million first-year students will head off to college campuses around the country. Most of them will be about 18 years old, born in 1990. Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college.

The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.

This year's Mindset List
for the Class of 2012 has 60 items, including the following:

Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.

WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.

IBM has never made typewriters.

There have always been charter schools.

Full list here (and previous years as well).

3 Comments:

At 8/20/2008 8:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Things change,and always will. That's why students need a grounding in the basics that don't change. Or, will the curricula change with the evolving political correctness?

 
At 8/20/2008 8:17 AM, Blogger thomasblair said...

43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.

It's only a matter of time before these shenanigans become the norm.

 
At 8/20/2008 10:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And in 5 years, the Class of 2017 will entire college and the iPod will ALWAYS have been around.

 

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