Hispanics in the U.S. use mobile devices and social media more than any other demographic, while colleges and universities adopt both technologies as key parts of course work.
Almost 90 percent of Hispanics own a mobile device, with 53 percent using their smart phone to access the internet, according to research detailing Hispanics’ use of mobile technology and social sites like Twitter and Facebook, released May 17 by The Hispanic Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.
Eight in 10 whites included in the study said they have a mobile device, and one-third said they peruse the web with their phone.
Read more about minority technology use in higher education…
The institute’s study, “Connected Hispanics & Civic Engagement,” focused mostly on mobile technology’s role in effecting social change through improved communication, but Gus West, board chair of The Hispanic Institute, said widespread use of educationally relevant technology could serve Hispanics well in higher education.
“[Mobile technology] is the most significant tool for students today starting in elementary school and reaching all the way to college and post-graduate years,” West said.
Reliance on technology for homework, test preparation, and student group work makes familiarity with mobile devices an academic must, West said.
“It’s difficult in this day and age to not use some sort of internet access for every part of a person’s education,” he said.
Hispanic use of broadband internet jumped from 28 percent in 2004 to 68 percent in 2008, according to the research. Overall U.S. broadband use increased from 31 percent to 71 percent during the same period.
Hispanics, who comprise about 15 percent of the U.S. population, account for 11 percent of the total online market, according to the institute.
Thirty-six percent of English-speaking Hispanics said they check social networking websites at least two or three times a month, compared to 26 percent of African-Americans, 34 percent of Asians, and 27 percent of Spanish-speaking Hispanics.
“Hispanics’ heavy use of social media mirrors the culture‘s dependence on strong, extensive social relationships,” the report said.
The Hispanic Institute’s report reflects findings in a 2010 Pew Internet & American Life Project survey that indicated the digital divide between whites and minority groups could be narrowing.
A greater percentage of whites than blacks and Hispanics still have broadband access at home, but laptop ownership is now about even for all these groups, after blacks’ laptop ownership jumped from 34 percent in 2009 to 51 percent in 2010, according to Pew.
Aaron Smith, a Pew senior research specialist, says there are obvious limitations on what users can do on a mobile device–updating a resume being the classic example.
“Research has shown that people with an actual connection at home, the ability to go online on a computer at home, are more engaged in a lot of different things than people who rely on access from work, a friend’s house, or a phone,” Smith says.
For those Hispanics with mobile access, their connections are often related to geography.
“Most Latinos here want to communicate with each other, they have family in other places that they want to be connected to,” Amador says. “And they want to be involved in the American community. They see everyone on TV talking about Facebook and Twitter, and they want what other Americans have.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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