Technology and Learning in Higher Ed: Looking Beyond the Millenials

Technology and Learning in Higher Ed: Looking Beyond the Millenials April 2007 Lesley Blicker Director of IMS Learning and Next Generation Technology Minnesota State Colleges and Universities [email_address]

A Profile of Today’s Learners - the Millenials
The generation born between 1982 and 2000
Also known as “Echo boomers,” the Net Generation, Digital Natives
Very comfortable with technological learning tools including online learning and courseware, presentation software, Web page design, spreadsheet software
Source: “Identifying the Generation Gap in Higher Education: Where do Differences Really Lie?” Paula Garcia and Jingjing Qin. Innovate Journal of Online Education, April/May 2007. http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=379

Product of the Environment
Video games
Computers
Email
Generation X
The Web
Multiple, mobile devices
Instant messaging
Online communities
Millenials Baby Boomers
TV generation
Typewriters
Memos

A Profile of the Millenials – cont’d
Education-oriented
More assertive information seekers
No tolerance for delays
The Internet is better than TV
Doing is more important than knowing
Multi-tasking is a way of life
Typing is preferred to handwriting
Staying connected is essential
Source: “Teaching and Learning with the Net Generation,” Barnes, Marateo, and Ferris. Innovate Journal of Online Education, April/May 2007. Also “Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millenials: Understanding the New Students,” D. Oblinger, Educause July/August 2003.

Differences in Learning Styles
Learn differently
Varied forms of communication (easily bored with traditional learning methods)
More hands-on, inquiry-based approaches to learning
Less willing to absorb what is put before them
Looking for immediacy
Source: “Teaching and Learning with the Net Generation,” Barnes, Marateo, and Ferris. Innovate Journal of Online Education, April/May 2007. http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=382

Shift in Learning Styles
Shift from description to depiction
Peer-to-peer learning
Interactivity —an immediate response to their each and every action
Source: Marc Prensky, 2001.

Are Their Attention Spans Really Short?
Yes…for the old ways of learning
But NOT for games or for anything else that interests them
They crave interactivity— an immediate response to their each and every action
Traditional education provides very little of this compared to the rest of their world
Adapted from Marc Prensky, 2001.

What Caused the Learning Style Shift?
Ingrained habits of seeking and retrieving information from the Internet
Playing video games where instruction is needed only “just-in-time” or “on-site,”
And something called neuroplasticity…
Adapted from “Teaching and Learning with the Net Generation,” Barnes, Marateo, and Ferris. Innovate Journal of Online Education, April/May 2007. http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=382

Neuroplasticity
The brain reorganizes itself throughout life: neuroplasticity
Stimulation changes brain structures; the brain changes and organizes itself based on the inputs it receives
Different developmental experiences impact how people think
Source: Marc P rensky, 2001. “ Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Parts 1 and 2. ” http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.htm http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.htm

Forest Park High School Digital Video Media Segment – The Millenials at School Digital Natives Source: Marc Prensky, 2001. “ Every time I go to school I have to power down,” complains a high-school student.

"If I'm not texting my friends over the cell phone, I have my laptop with me and I'm IM'ing them. Or I'm doing research on Google. Honestly, the only reason any of my college friends use the library is for group meetings." --Andrea Thomas, senior, Miami University Source: C/Net News.com Special Report: Taking Back the Web: New Generation Technologies Return Net to Social Roots. http://news.com.com/2009-1025-5944666-3.html Always Connected

Media Exposure
Spent 10,000 hours on video games
Read 200,000 emails
Watched 20,000 hours TV
Spent 10,000 hours on the cell phone
Spent under 5,000 hours reading
By age 21, the average person will have: – Marc Prensky, 2003 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 E-mails Video Games Reading Television Cell Phone

What Technologies are The Millenials Using?

Portable Devices and Game Controllers

Self-publishing, “notice me” software; allows consumer to also produce. Digital connected is prized above all else. Social Technologies

3D Virtual Worlds (Games/Sims)

The Gen Nexters
Students presently age 5-15; college entrance between 2010 and 2020
* Sometimes referred to as the Gen Nexters

Fusion of mobile, IM and Web
Widespread availability of Open Source software (esp. enterprise)
3D engine product ubiquity
Customized educational opportunities
Digital textbooks (e-books)
Continuation of social networks moving to the 3D virtual world
Future Technology Trends

Open standards approach to tool interoperability and integration
Content-sharing beyond the bounds of one organization
Cont’d blurring of content creator and consumer
Web 2.0 tools (software people nuse without being told to)
Mashups
Future Technology Trends

Technology and Learning in Higher Ed: Looking Beyond the Millenials

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