The “Google generation” is setting the academic pace and the days of the academic essay could be numbered. The more adventurous universities are developing academic applications for people brought up in the internet age and used to social networking sites.

A study from the Joint Information Systems Committee, which supports the use of information and communications technology in higher education, indicated that 75 per cent of students use social networking sites to discuss coursework and to communicate with peers, while 62 per cent wanted web 2.0 technologies - blogs, wikis, and podcasts - to be used for teaching and assessment.

Louise Thorpe, head of academic innovation at Sheffield Hallam University has conducted a survey of students' use of web 2.0. She asked 12 volunteers to keep a blog or online diary of their experiences with technology.

“We found 80 per cent of students consider that IT or e-learning is essential while the bloggers were telling us that the design of online resources was less important than how up to date they were,” she says.

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Sheffield Hallam scores highly in the currency stakes. Business management students on work placement use blogs as a two-way communication to update tutors on their learning and to receive feedback on their progress. Meanwhile digital economy students working in groups use wikis to create business plans. Thorpe says: “I feel blogs and wikis are one of the next logical steps in assessment.”[

Richard Hall, e-learning co-ordinator at De Montfort University, says: “Before they submit an assignment for marking, students submit a blog to their classmates and tutor for comment. The feedback helps them to enhance the final work.”

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