Today's college students are faced with an entirely new set of challenges which derive from living in a technological age. If they already have a working knowledge of computers, they need to constantly keep up with changes in the computer industry in order to stay current. They must also deal with achieving balance between time with media and time with their academic courses. Learning how to evaluate media and technology poses another challenge. Most young adults know media have an influence on them, but few know how to evaluate and critically assess the programs they are exposed to.
Students also have to adjust to an entirely new pace of life, unlike any previously known.
Technology seems to provide some solutions to problems, but at the same time it also creates many new problems. For instance, television and computers are affecting students' reading abilities. With reading, the child has to take time to reflect on the story. He has to move into the character and plot and then periodically remove himself in order to think about what has taken place and how that has affected what is currently going on and what is likely to emerge. Book reading requires moments of active engagement woven together with reflective pauses.