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The Next Generation Learner

The Next Generation Learner

Diana G. Oblinger, Ph.D.EDUCAUSE Live, July 21 2004

Copyright Diana G. Oblinger, 2004. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial,

educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the

author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Copyright Diana G. Oblinger, 2004. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial,

educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the

author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

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Children age 6 and under

• 2.01 hours / day playing outside

• 1.58 hours using computers

• 40 minutes reading or being read to

• 48% of children have used a computer

• 27% 4-6 year olds use a computer daily

• 39% use a computer several times a week

• 30% have played video games

00

1.01.0

2.02.0

PlayPlayoutsideoutside

Use Use computercomputer

ReadingReading

– Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003

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Teen’s web use

• 100% use the Internet to seek information on colleges, careers and jobs

• 94% use the Internet for school research

• 41% use email and instant messaging to contact teachers or schoolmates about class work

• The Internet is their primary communication tool― 81% email friends and relatives― 70% use instant messaging to keep in touch― 56% prefer the Internet to the telephone

– Lenhart, Simon & Graziano, 2001; NetDay, 2003

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What would you do without the Internet?

• “We could not do any schoolwork”

• “We have to have the most current, up to date information to be accurate”

• “Devastated—everything would be so much harder and take so much longer to do”

• “We depend upon having the Internet now”

How would your schoolwork be affected if you no longer had access to the Internet anywhere?

– – NetDay, 2003NetDay, 2003

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The Net Generation

• Born in or after 1982

• Gravitate toward group activity

• 8 out of 10 say “it’s cool to be smart”

• Focused on grades and performance

• Busy with extracurricular activities

• Identify with parents’ values; feel close to parents

• Respectful of social conventions and institutions

• Fascination for new technologies

• Racially and ethnically diverse

―Howe & Strauss, 2003―Howe & Strauss, 2003

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Today’s learners

• Digitally literate

• Mobile

• Always on

• Experiential

• Community-oriented

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Media literacy

• 10,000 hours video games

• 200,000 emails

• 20,000 hours TV

• 10,000 hours cell phone

• Under 5,000 hours reading

By age 21, the average person will have spent

– Prensky, 2003

00

50005000

1000010000

1500015000

2000020000

2500025000

E-mailsE-mailsVideo Video GamesGames

ReadingReading

TelevisionTelevision

Cell Cell PhonePhone

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Internet: A social technology

• Net Gen’ers use the Internet primarily as a social technology

• While at home, students use the Internet to maintain multiple lines of communication with others―IM used for quick communication (e.g., What’s up?)―Email or phone used for longer communication

• Home computer is repository of important information; other devices used to transport the material (laptop, PDA)

--Lextant, 2003

9Net Gen strengths

• Multitasking

• Goal orientation

• Positive attitudes

• Collaborative style

• Technology savvy

―Raines, 2002―Raines, 2002

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College Internet use

– Jones, 2002

• 79% Internet has a positive impact on academic experience

• 73% Use the Internet more than the library for research

• 72% Check email every day

• 60% believe the Internet has improved relationships with classmates

• 56% believe the Internet has improved relationship with professors

• 46% Allows them to express ideas that they would not have expressed in class

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Age vs. online preferences

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Mature Boomer Gen X Millenial

63%55%

38%

26%

(N = 27) (N = 324) (N = 814) (N = 344)

―Dzuiban, 2004―Dzuiban, 2004

Students who were very satisfied with Web-based learning by generation

Students who were very satisfied with Web-based learning by generation

12THE HORIZON REPORT - 2005 EDITIONNMC: The New Media Consortium/National Learning Infrastructure Initiative

• The report identifies six areas of emerging technology that the research suggests will become increasingly significant to higher education within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years.

• 1. Extended Learning.

• 2. Ubiquitous Wireless.

• 3. Intelligent Searching.

• 4. Educational Gaming.

• 5. Social Networks and Knowledge Webs.

• 6. Context-Aware Computing/Augmented Reality.

13EXTENDED LEARNINGTime-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

• traditional instruction is augmented with technology tools that are familiar to students and used by them in daily life

• - IM (instant messaging)

• - blogs -

• - RSS (really simple syndication)

• - wikis

• - PDAs

• extended learning courses can be conceptualized as hybrid courses with an extended set of communication tools and strategies

• the classroom serves as a home base for exploration, and integrates online instruction, traditional instruction, and study groups, all supported by a variety of communication tools

14UBIQUITOUS WIRELESSTime-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

• With new developments in wireless technology both in terms of transmission and of devices that can connect to wireless networks, connectivity is increasingly available and desired.

• Campuses and even communities are beginning to regard universal wireless access as a necessity for all.

• Rural communities are beginning to view Internet access as they view other utilities like water and electricity: a necessity for a modern community.

• As the need to stay connected, to get information, and to keep in touch with peers and colleagues grows, ubiquitous wireless connectivity presents an attractive alternative to “plugging in” with wires.

15INTELLIGENT SEARCHINGTime-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

• The need for information is constant and pressing. Tools that make it easier to find, retrieve, and organize information will be in demand more and more as the amount of available information continues to increase.

• Tools that index and search the contents of a user’s hard drive as well as resources on the Internet, enable users to re-find documents when they are needed, whether they are stored in email, directories, or elsewhere.

• Search agents can take “instructions” about the types of things a person is interested in, report immediate findings, and even remember search parameters over time, repeating the search at intervals to add to the results and create customized research lists.

• Search agents are making it easier to find sources of information, check facts, and build bibliographies.

16EDUCATIONAL GAMINGTime-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

• Games of all kinds have enormous potential to reach people. In terms of education, games are engaging and adaptable to almost any subject.

• Games are particularly useful for teaching cause-and-effect relationships, and the lessons learned from games stay with students because of the interactive nature of the learning experience.

• Educational gaming, which may include animations, video, and images, or may be purely text-based, allow students to explore roles that they otherwise could not, all in a safe, encouraging setting.

• Technology can facilitate connections between players, making games more dynamic and interesting.

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Chesapeake Technology Plan

• How will the Net Gen'ers change the learning environment at Chesapeake?

• How will Chesapeake need to change to support their learning?

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Contact

• We would like your feedback, please email Doug Gray or me.

• Doug Gray - dgray@chesapeake.edu

• Jerry Driscoll – jdriscoll@chesapeake.edu

• Once we get feedback, we can get together in small groups to discuss the input.