The Role of Skill in Internet Use

Today's college students have constant access to information and communication technologies. Yet we know very little about how students are incorporating digital media into their everyday lives. Recent innovations are making lots of opportunities available to students, but there exists little systematic analysis of young people's actual online behavior.  This presentation will look at the types of sites and online services that a diverse group of college students (mostly first-years) are using and how their engagement differs by socio-economic background and user attributes. The presentation will also include a description of an upcoming large-scale training intervention to improve users' online abilities.