M.D. Lytras et al. (Eds.): WSKS 2009, CCIS 49, pp. 357–365, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 Italian University Students and Digital Technologies: Some Results from a Field Research Paolo Ferri 1,2 , Nicola Cavalli 2 , Elisabetta Costa 2 , Andrea Mangiatordi 2 , Stefano Mizzella 2 , Andrea Pozzali 2 , and Francesca Scenini 2 1 Department of Educational Sciences "Riccardo Massa", University of Milan-Bicocca, Piazza dell‘Ateneo Nuovo, 1 - 20126, Milan (italy) 2 Observatory on New Media "Numedia Bios", University of Milan-Bicocca, Piazza dell‘Ateneo Nuovo, 1- 20126, Milan (italy) {paolo.ferri,andrea.pozzali}@unimib.it, {nicola.cavalli,elisabettacosta1,andrea.mangiatordi, stefano.mizzella,francesca.scenini}@gmail.com Abstract. Developments in information and communication technologies have raised the issue of how a kind of intergenerational digital divide can take place between “digital natives” and “digital immigrants”. This can in turn have impor- tant consequences for the organization of educative systems. In this paper we present the result of a research performed during the course of 2008 to study how university students in Italy make use of digital technologies. The methodology was based on a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches. A survey research was done, on a sample of 1186 students of the University of Milan-Bicocca, based on a questionnaire administrated through the Intranet of the University. A series of focus groups and in depth interviews with students, parents, and new media experts was furthermore performed. The results are consistent with the presence of a strong intergenerational divide. The implications of the results for the future organization of educative systems are discussed in the paper. Keywords: digital natives, digital immigrants, social networks, education. 1 Introduction The development of the so-called “Knowledge Society” is strictly linked to the increas- ing pervasiveness of information and communication technologies in all aspects of everyday life. Even fields that are traditionally quite resistant to changes need to adjust to the strong transformative power of these technologies. The case of education repre- sents a paradigmatic example of how technological advancements can determine the possibility to introduce significant innovations, that have anyway to take into consid- eration the need to find a correct balance with traditional procedures and organizational practices; old models and processes of knowledge transmission through generations have to be somehow adapted to a new situation: “Contrarily to what happened previ- ously to older generations when radio and, particularly, television emerged, digital technologies, and the services associated with them, convey something completely