A record number of American college students are studying abroad — 289,000, according to the most recent data released Monday by the Institute of International Education.
Educators say that’s good, since international education promotes critical relationship building and cross cultural understanding. But many in the field worry the influx of technology and social media may be hampering the ability of American students to fully immerse themselves abroad. Nina Keck writes at On Campus:
That’s making important lessons of autonomy and responsibility harder to learn, she said, as well as impeding language and social skills.
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“When cell phones came along,” explained Hofer, “the students could just call each other and say, 'Meet you at the bar at six,' and not have to go through that negotiation or show up at the kids’ house and pick them up which they once did and have to greet the person at the door.” The Middlebury psychology professor said they were bypassing an entire arena of language immersion that they longer no needed because cell phones made that direct contact possible.
