Keynote: Implications of Digital Generations for a Learning Society: New Technologies, Pedagogies, and Assessments Speaker: Prof. Gerald Knezek, University of North Texas Time: 14:30 – 15:30, 29 May 2015 (Friday) Venue: Room 408A, 409A & 410, 4/F, Meng Wah Complex, The University of Hong Kong citers2015.cite.hku.hk/keynote-knezek/

1. Implications of Digital Generations for a
Learning Society:
New Technologies, Pedagogies &
Assessments
CITERS 2015
Emerging pedagogies and technologies
Gerald Knezek, University of North Texas, USA
Regents Professor of Learning Technologies
Hong Kong University
May 29, 2015

2. Higher Ed Symposium Brazil Aug
2014

3. International Handbook of IT in
Education
Section Editors – UNESCO, Paris,
2006

5. Brief Vita
1974: Bachelors Degree Dartmouth College (NH)
Mathematics & the Social Sciences
1976: Masters Univ. of Hawaii
Experimental Psychology, Learning Theories
1978: Ph.D. Educational Psychology Univ. of Hawaii
Educational Psychology, Pedagogy, Computational Psychometrics
Technology-infused pedagogical methods (Learning Sciences)
1993, 2006, 2011: Fulbright Appointments to Japan, Ecuador, the Netherlands
2000-2014: Regents Professor of Learning Technologies
Director, Institute for the Integration of Technology into Teaching & Learning
http://iittl.unt.edu
2005-14: International Handbook of Information Technology (Co-Editor), Co-
Chair, EduSummIT 2009, 11, 13
(Computer Science > CECS > Technology & Cognition > Learning
Technologies)
Recurring Theme: Teacher Preparation for Past 39 Years

6. Topics
Digital Generations
as a context for
Old and New Pedagogies
delivered through
New Technologies
with implications for
Assessments

7. Topics
Digital Generations
as a context for
Old and New Pedagogies
delivered through
New Technologies
with implications for
Assessments
to tell us if these initiatives are contributing to a
Learning Society

8. Basic Question
Why do we have teachers?

9. Basic Question
Why do we have teachers?
Answer:
To educate our children
To help them become productive future
citizens in our society

10. Sakamoto Sensei (Fulbright Scholar 1993-94, Tokyo Inst.
Technlogy)

11. Mission of Educators
The purpose of education in every society is
two-fold:
a) Transmit skills
b) Transmit culture to the next generation
(Sakamoto, 1993)

12. Big Question?
Do the technologies we are choosing
and our children are using
hinder or help in achieving the goals
of:
- Transmitting skills
and
- Transmitting culture?

13. Digital Generations:
A context for pedagody, technologies
and assessment

14. Historical Focus:
Computer Games Xbox 360/ Male Dominant
Photo Courtesy of Evans WardAP for Xbox

15. Is Expanding Toward: Programmable
Clothes & Jewelry Female Preference

16. Emerging Focus:
Digital Fab Labs Male/Female & Majority/Minorities

18. Digital Fabrication Hardware
 Fab@School
3D Fabricator

19. Digital Fabrication
 Translation of a digital pattern into a
physical object.

20. Biological Fabrication

21. Cornell Kinematics Models

22. Fabricated Kinematic Models

23. Exponential Growth Curve
RP Machine Sales

24. Curriculum
Digital fabrication can facilitate
 student engagement
 developmental skills
 STEM learning

25. Curriculum
 Students will have the motivating and
satisfying experience of taking their
concepts from mind’s eye to physical
form.

26. Pedagogical Practices:
Project-Based Learning
Digital Fabrication
MIT Fablab (Gershenfeld)
As of 2013, there were 125 fablabs in 34 countries
http://www.fabfoundation.org/fab-labs/
https://www.ted.com/talks/
neil_gershenfeld_on_fab_labs
http://fab.cba.mit.edu

27. 
Classroom-Based Practices since 2009
Fab@School Preservice & Inservice Teacher Training
Univ. of Virginia
Curriculum,
Cornell Univ. (USA)
Physics & Engineering
Univ. of North Texas (USA)
Teacher Preparation
http://iittl.unt.edu/content/about-fablab-classroom

28. Now Univ –Wide Group (Library, Art, LTEC)
New NSF Award Final Negotiation May 2015

29. Digital Age Learners:
Two Generations (Plus Us)
 Gen1 Millennials (Gen Y)
 80 million born between 1980 and 1995
 Now in their twenties & thirties
 Gen2 Millennials (Gen Z) born 1996 – 2015 ?
 Students of Millennials becoming teachers
 These are the next generation learners
 Primarily The Rest of Us (Gen X ’65 - ’79)
 Baby Boomers (’45 - ‘64, Teachers of Teachers)
Howe, N. (2007). Millennials Shaping the Future

30. Digital Age Learners Still Dislike School
(Not All is Perfect)

31. Texas Attitudes Toward School by Grade
Level: 2001 (6 Items)

32. Just As Their Predecessors
Did 30 Years Before

33. Hawaii Attitudes Toward School by Grade
Level: 1971 (20 Items, Dunn-Rankin)

34. That may be changing worldwide
(UNESCO’s Jonghwi Park: Happiness Quotient)

35. The Case of Nan Chiau Primary School
Nan Chiau Primary
School in Singapore, is
part of the Qualcomm
Wireless Reach WE
Learn project.
Soloway (Univ. Michigan)
& Norris (UNT) Pis:
2009-2014

36. Smartphone use for teaching and learning.

37. Students are Excited to Share and Learn
Lower tier students like school & retain belief in own creativity

38. Digital Age Learners G1 (Gen Y)
 As the newest adults (Millennials)
 Tend toward pre-diabetic & attention deficit
 Obese (250% increase vs. Boomers)
 ADHD (2-3 per class, 8x since 1990)
 Are focused on self-gratification
 Ironic given save the world beliefs
 Do not have loyalty to job or career
 Are a bit pampered
 Economic prosperity, parents with strong work ethics

39. Digital Age Learners G1 (Gen Y)
 Have never been without technology surrounding them
 Are said to be good at it multi-tasking
 But still cannot drive and text:
 May 5, 2009 -- Driving while text messaging or fiddling
 with an MP3 player is dangerous -- even more
 hazardous than talking on a cell phone, a new study shows.
 21 teens ages 16-18
 http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20090505/teens-all-thumbs-
when-texting-and-driving

40. For Digital Age Learners G1 (Gen Y)
 ‘Second Life’ is sometimes more reinforcing than the first
 Active participation is natural
 Passive learning is almost impossible
 Looking beyond the ‘immediate next step’ is uncommon
 Lifeline is assumed

41. Yet Digital Age Learners G1Are Built for
Collaborative Problem Based Learning
Millennials Share in
Common
 Know they are Special
 Had Sheltered Lives
 Are Confident
 Are Team-Oriented
 Are Conventional (in thinking)
 Are Pressured
 Are Achieving
Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation
Elements of Effective
Project:
 Clear Purpose
 Sufficient Time
 Personally Meaningful
 Complex
 Including serendipitous
 Connected /Interconnected
 Sharable
 Access to constructive materials
(Staeger 11/09)

42.  Funded 2008 – 2013 $1.5M; 2013 - 2017 Scaleup $2M US
 New Funding 2013 to Scale Up to more environments and
with increased focus on STEM Careers
 Year One (Grades 6 – 8)
 7 veteran classroom teachers in 3 states for treatment
 Texas
 Vermont
 Louisiana
 13 classrooms for comparison
 Hawaii
 Virginia
 North Carolina
 Louisiana
 Texas
 Year Two
 Adding Maine, Florida, ???
Overview: Going Green! Middle Schoolers Out to
Save theWorld

43. Project Locations

44.  Study electricity and stand-by power
 Inventory home plug-in appliances
 Measure plug-in appliances at home with the
power monitoring devices
 Share data with other project participants
 Use data for ‘what if’ projections
Key Activities

45. ITEST Goal: Interest in STEM Careers

46.  Awareness of and Reduction of CO2 impact
 Increase student interest of STEM career
options
 Out of School activity coordinated in
School
Project Goals

47. Teacher Training Summer ‘09
First Teacher Institute

48. Teacher Training 2010
Second Teacher Institute

49. Third Teacher Institute June 2014

50. 24 Teachers from 7 States

52. Practice in Monitoring

53. Spreadsheet Projections

55. Discussions Outside

57. Ice Cream Reward

58. Teacher Training 2015
Fourth Teacher Institute
June 24-26, NASA’s Goddard Space Center, Maryland

59. Target Audience: Middle School Girls and Boys

60.  Gain in Content Knowledge
 More positive attitudes toward STEM
 Enhanced interest in STEM careers
 Productive Citizens
 Working in a real world context
Outcomes

61.  STEM Semantic Survey
 Semantic Differential
 7-point scale pairs (interesting – boring) 5
areas:
 Science
 Math
 Engineering
 Technology
 STEM Career
 Career Interest Inventory
 13 item Likert (SD to SA), 3 subscales
 Math items from TIMSS
 Attitudes toward School, Creative Tendencies
Instrumentation for STEM Projects

62. Semantic Perception (Alpha = .8-.9)

63. College / Career Success Subscale from CIQ
(Alpha = .7-.9)

64. (Alpha = .8-.9)

65.  Gain in Content Knowledge
 Vampire Power Quiz
 Electrical Safety Quiz
 More positive attitudes toward STEM
 Science, Technology, Engineering, Math
 Semantic Differential & Likert Scales
 Enhanced interest in STEM careers
 Too many years to verify
 Search for Interest Indicators
Measuring Outcomes

66. Content Measure: Standby Power Quiz (Meier,
Lawrence Berkeley Labs)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/climate/st
andby-quiz-interactive.html

67. Content Items (NELS)

69. Demographic Items
 Gender
 Grade
 Number of hours on the Internet
 I plan to have a career in:
 Science
 Technology
 Engineering
 Mathematics
 Other

70. Gender Differences All Groups: STEM Semantics

71. Gender Differences: All Measures

72.  Gain in Content Knowledge?
 Absolutely!
 More positive attitudes toward STEM
 Yes, especially for MS FEMALES
 Enhanced interest in STEM careers
 Finally in 2013-14
For MSOSW

73. Virtually Enhancing the Dissemination /
STEM Career Component (5x f to f)

78. Project Students (Gen Z)

81. What about Digital Age Learners G1
(Gen Y) as Teachers?
 As soon-to-be new teachers:
 Expect respect from their students in the classroom
 Even though they do not expect to give the same to
their own teachers
 As teachers will not be too different in maturity from
their students
 Tyler-Wood, 12/09

82. Aggregate “U” is Clear
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
G4_5 G_6_7_8 HS G_12 Univ.Preserv. Eng.Majors STEM Prof.
Career
Technology
Engineering
Math
Science

83. Now a “W” Shape
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
G4_5 G_6_7_8 HS G_12 TAMS
G11_12
Univ.Preserv. Eng.Majors STEM Prof.
Science
Mathematics
Engineering
Technology
Career

84. AndYet Millenials May Be the Greatest
Generation Ever

85. Digital Generation Families
Traditional:
Parents are the first teachers of children
Millennial:
For the first time in history, children have
more knowledge than their parents (via the
Internet) and skill in how to get it.
Congressional Record, V. 146, Pt. 15, October 6, 2000 to October
12 2000

86. Evolution of Pedagogies:
Made Possible w/ New Technologies

87. My Family is an Example

88. May 15, 2015

89. Digital Literacy

90. May 14, 2015

92. Thesis Topics
Gabe: Computer Engineering
Parallel Processing in Cloud Computing
Sarah: Biomedical Engineering
Math Models of Chemotherapy
Treatments
Nick: Astrophysics
Magnetosphere of Earth & Planetary
Objects
Outcome Assessments: STEM Careers

93. Like Our Graduate Students:
‘Children of the World’

94. Emerging New Pedagogies
Paul Kim (Stanford)
Causing a Paradigm Shift in the
Global Education Ecosystem

95. Alien Pedagogy: Modern Day
Discovery Learning

96. Game-Based Mobile Learning

97. Randomly Assigns Treatments
to Assess Effectiveness

98. Technologies are Constantly Changing (CFB
HS weekly use 2009)

99. Digital Age Learners G2
 Were first Netbook Generation
 2007: 1 M
 2008: 14 M
 2012: 12-14% of total Market
 Are Now the Smartphone / Notepad Generation
 Phone, Camera & GPS
 Calculator & Web Browser
 Voice and Text Messaging (+flashlight ;-)
Soloway & Norris; Staeger 2009

100. Digital Age Learners (G2) are:
Going to be a mini-baby boom?
Are often brilliant
PI = 3.14159265 … (six year old 11/09)
Come in extremes
 Children of Gen X Yuppies
 Children of broken homes
parents = one or none

101. AssistiveTechnologies Can Help Impaired

102. Attention Deficit Remediation is Reality
Today: Neurofeedback

103. Tomorrow: EmbeddedAssessment & Self-
Correction will be Reality

104. Games and Simulations will Absolutely
Grow in Use
Since the early 1980s we knew they could be up to 9 times more
effective for learning
Now they are practical to build, deploy, and use
http://simschool.org

105. Big Data has Great Prospects for Good
and Some Prospects for Pearl
 Big brother may be watching
 Publishers
 Companies
 Governments

106. I am Watching you ?

107. Some Unresolved Questions
 How are G2 Millennials different from G1?
 More broken homes?
 Suffered more hardships?
 Focused on job, not self?
 Will G1 Millennials be better G2 teachers?
 Digital Natives
 Color Blind (to race)?
 Tech Saavy
 Able to relate?

108. Contact: gknezek@gmail.com
Thank you !

109. 1. In what ways does teacher education need to
change to better meet the needs and learning style
of digital-age learners?
Discussion Question