Are young people too reliant on Google?

Latest admissions officers survey presents a worrying trend,’ says ACS Egham’s Head of School, Jeremy Lewis.

A ‘challenging set of results’, a politician might say. Others might suggest that heads should roll. What is clear, is that if there were any sort of league table which measured how well-prepared school leavers are for university, there’d be some catch-up to do.

I’m referring to the results of the 2017 Survey of University Admissions Officers.  The survey was conducted through 81 telephone interviews with a selection of British universities, including half of all the high to medium tariff universities. Asked to choose from a list of 15 different options which ones they thought impacts on a student’s ability to thrive at university, almost nine in ten, 89 per cent, of university admissions officers cited ‘not being able to think and learn independently’.  

This was followed by ‘unable to manage their own time or workloads’, cited by 88 per cent. Seven in ten suggested that students do not appreciate what their course will involve; while 52 per cent felt they were ‘unable to carry out extended writing’; and the same number ‘unable to remember facts, possessing a ‘Google-It’ mentality’.

This view chimes with other data presenting the so called Generation Z and which seems to suggest that while they are incredibly demanding, many are also very needy and much more reliant perhaps on parents, teachers and lecturers than previous generations. And, of course, Google.

Worryingly, almost a half of university admissions officers when asked ‘do you think sixth formers are sufficiently prepared for a successful transition from school to university?’, said no.  This despite that almost three quarters, 73 per cent, believing that students ‘put more effort in to considering their university choices before they apply than they did in the past’.

So what is going on? Why is the most widely connected generation in the history of the human kind seemingly so ill-prepared for university, social and intellectual life? The missing link appears to be a student’s own initiative and independent mindedness. As well as being the most digitally engaged generation, this one is also the most externally assessed and measured, tested and managed at every stage of their young lives. 

Has this produced a generation of young people unable to think for themselves? The importance of performance in exams and league tables often appears to be given far greater priority than learning how to challenge facts. This, of course is wholly reinforced through social media, where ‘facts’ are presented in small, digestible bites, and swallowed whole.

I don’t think that we can blame it all on social media or testing though. The survey also posed one simple question to admissions officers: ‘Do you think different exam systems (over and above individual teachers or school) develop different attitudes towards learning and work among students?”. The answer was a resounding yes.

Asked to give a score out of five for how well a particular qualification prepares a student to thrive at university, 55 per cent of admission officers gave the International Baccalaureate a top score of five, compared to just 15 per cent who said the same of A levels. Their reasoning? The IB is a broader education programme, developing a wide range of qualities that students need to succeed in life beyond school.  

The Admissions Officers Survey was commissioned by ACS International Schools and IBSCA (International Baccalaureate Schools and Colleges Association).

This article first appeared in The Times Higher Education.

About the author Jeremy Lewis was educated in England and South Africa and holds a Masters Degree in International Education from Bath University. Jeremy has worked within the British and international educational system for over 30 years where he has taught English, Drama and Theory of Knowledge. Over the years Jeremy has acquired considerable experience of all four IB programmes. As Head Teacher at ACS Egham, he is deeply committed to establishing a school culture that recognises and promotes international mindedness and excellence within and beyond the classroom.