Above is the title of an article by Rave Wireless co-founder Raju Rishi published in the new EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY. The subtitle describes a surprising and unsettling fact of campus life: ‘Despite students’ connected lifestyle, colleges and universities often fail to reach them with timely and relevant information.’ Attempting to reach students in dorm rooms by landlines has become less and less practical as students opt for mobile phones. Emails sent to students are often not read for days or weeks. Students own and use technology very differently than in the past. Rishi’s article includes these and other insights into these changes in campus life and learning:

A key element of the communication barrier is the fragmented nature of students’ media. Contemporary students use a new and different model for communication and information access, one created by the Internet and fueled by mobile technology. This predisposition makes it difficult for colleges and universities to reach their student populations via “traditional” channels and can broaden the divide between an administration and its students.

. . . an urgent, emergency message (such as a severe weather alert) has a better chance of reaching students quickly if sent via broadcast text messaging directly to every student’s mobile phone. Most colleges and universities, however, have not yet addressed the technical and social problems involved in making this shift, from obtaining the necessary phone numbers to broadcasting the message to multiple (perhaps thousands of) recipients.

In addition to bringing their preferred communications channels to campus, students bring a sense of ownership. Previously, students were captive audiences for universities’ chosen technology.

To reach their students, colleges and universities need to understand the impact of time-and-place shifting on communication and content. Digital media recorders and mobile devices such as iPods and mobile phones free students from time or viewing constraints.

Students want to feel engage, to be connected, and to learn and grow. But they prefer tools that are convenient and comfortable and fit their mobile lifestyle.

Fewer opportunities have presented such wide-ranging potential–if higher education institutions can learn to reach students using their preferred communication methods.