Innovate: Why Professor Johnny Can't Read: Understanding the Net Generation's ... - The Diigo Meta page

• 29 Sep 08
  

  Jen R

  • How does what we learn by studying the N-Gen's texts compare with what happens in the classroom? Gee (2007) points out a key distinction:

    Classrooms tend to encourage and reward individual knowledge stored in the head, not distributed knowledge. They don't often allow students to network with each other and with various tools and technologies and be rewarded for doing so . . . . classrooms tend to narrowly constrain where students can gain knowledge, rather than utilize widely dispersed knowledge. (103)

• 12 Sep 08
  

  Clark Gawletz

  education ICT eLearning

• 11 Sep 08
  

  Angela Stockman

  Essential reading: "we suggest that today's instructors are missing an opportunity by not learning to read the texts of the Net Generation. Failing to recognize these texts as valuable tools in the teaching and learning process, professors dismiss an entire constellation of literacy skills."

  learning education literacy

• 09 Sep 08
  

  Susanne Koch

  From Innovate

  digital_natives

• 01 Sep 08
  

  Juan Quintero

  Why Professor Johnny Can't Read:
  Understanding the Net Generation's Texts
  Mark Mabrito and Rebecca Medley

  innovate education learning

  • This distinction is important. Research in social psychology suggests that culture influences not only what a person thinks about but also how he or she thinks; that is, strategies for processing information may differ according to the culture in which a person matures (Peng and Nisbett 1999). Additionally, recent studies in brain research seem to indicate that the brain may actually be changed by repeated and prolonged exposure to the same stimuli (Nandini 2005), a phenomenon referred to by Trojan et al. (2004) as "adaptational neuroplasticity" (104). This research points to the possibility that N-Gen students are literally wired differently from previous generations, their brains shaped by a lifelong immersion in virtual spaces. Repeated and prolonged exposure to the digital world may mean that N-Gen students process and interact with information in a fundamentally different way from those who did not grow up in this environment.
  • ho must attempt to address the needs of a learning style they have never experienced, may know little about, and may be unable to comprehend fully because of their different skills in processing information.
  • 19 more annotations...
  • • These texts often serve to present the author to the digital world and may be collaboratively composed and edited; they are frequently multimodal, integrating words, graphics, sound, and video.
    • requiring N-Gens to develop ways of thinking that differ altogether from those of their professors (Nandini 2005).
    • which may lead to profound misunderstandings. When instructors perceive linear, print-based texts as a benchmark, the N-Gen’s texts may, at first glance, fall quite short. However, these digital texts do not necessarily lack style, coherence, or organization; they simply present meaning in ways unfamiliar to the instructor.
    • undertaking
    • Indeed
    • Classrooms tend to encourage and reward individual knowledge stored in the head, not distributed knowledge. They don't often allow students to network with each other and with various tools and technologies and be rewarded for doing so . . . . classrooms tend to narrowly constrain where students can gain knowledge, rather than utilize widely dispersed knowledge. (103)
    • much of the pedagogy is built on models that require solitary, independent learning.
    • glimpse
    • Texts that do not look like books or essays and that are structured in unfamiliar ways may leave educators with the perception that the authors of these texts lack necessary literacy skills.
    • One way to build a stronger understanding of the N-Gen student is by participating in the same learning spaces where this generation spends so much time. For some, this requires a shift in pedagogical thinking
    • Many of the skills that N-Gens develop while participating in these spaces are skills that could serve them well in certain learning environments, particularly those framed by the principles of social constructivism
    • likely
    • Attempting
    • The processes we see at work in N-Gen texts are similar to those that social constructivists suggest should structure classroom instruction
    • Current
    • (Vygotsky 1978; Bruffe 1984),
    • (Bump 1990; Duin and Hanson 1994). Similarly, Wenger (1998)
    • (Exhibit 9).
    • However, this shift in pedagogy cannot happen rapidly. Even as we are learning more about the N-Gen learner, our pedagogy for addressing the needs of this type of learner has not kept pace. Two factors will drive the adoption of a pedagogy that accesses the strengths of N-Gen learning styles for education. First, faculty members must spend time in the learning spaces of N-Gen students in order to develop an understanding of how N-Gen literacies and learning styles develop. We need to experience these learning spaces as learners before we can understand how to use them as teachers.
• 30 Aug 08
  

  mel aclaro

  A bit academic for my taste, but good article, nontheless (free registration required) that explores the nature of today's online content as a reflection of the differences between today's students and their older instructors. It discusses the unique challenges this group of learners may present for instructors who don't share their students' technological immersion. But, it also suggests how such challenges might be overcome.

  businesscasual training presentation articles learning theory

  • In the last two decades, computer-enhanced learning has exploded to the point where almost every college campus markets its cutting-edge technology resources. Part of the impetus behind this growth is an attempt to address the needs of a fundamentally different type of learner who has been identified in the literature as the Net-Generation, or N-Gen, student
  • One indicator of the extent and type of differences between the Net Generation and previous generations of learners are the texts that N-Gen learners create and consume.
  • 8 more annotations...
  • • Failing to recognize these texts as valuable tools in the teaching and learning process, professors dismiss an entire constellation of literacy skills.
    • while N-Gens interact with the world through multimedia, online social networking, and routine multitasking, their professors tend to approach learning linearly, one task at a time, and as an individual activity that is centered largely around printed text
    • Research in social psychology suggests that culture influences not only what a person thinks about but also how he or she thinks; that is, strategies for processing information may differ according to the culture in which a person matures
    • a phenomenon referred to by Trojan et al. (2004) as "adaptational neuroplasticity" (104). This research points to the possibility that N-Gen students are literally wired differently from previous generations, their brains shaped by a lifelong immersion in virtual spaces. Repeated and prolonged exposure to the digital world may mean that N-Gen students process and interact with information in a fundamentally different way from those who did not grow up in this environment.

    • How does what we learn by studying the N-Gen's texts compare with what happens in the classroom? Gee (2007) points out a key distinction:

      Classrooms tend to encourage and reward individual knowledge stored in the head, not distributed knowledge. They don't often allow students to network with each other and with various tools and technologies and be rewarded for doing so . . . . classrooms tend to narrowly constrain where students can gain knowledge, rather than utilize widely dispersed knowledge. (103)

    • While interaction certainly exists in a traditional classroom, much of the pedagogy is built on models that require solitary, independent learning.
    • One way to build a stronger understanding of the N-Gen student is by participating in the same learning spaces where this generation spends so much time.
    • think of places where N-Gens create, consume, and reshape text not as strictly entertainment or social gathering places but as alternate classrooms
• 27 Aug 08
  

  Barbara Lindsey
  • What distinguishes this group of learners, who were born after 1982, from previous generations is the fact that they have come of age in a digitally enhanced world and, consequently, their understanding of the world has come primarily from digital sources (Tapscott 1998). Prensky (2001) characterizes these students as "digital natives" because they represent the first generation of students to grow up with pervasive digital technology.
  • One indicator of the extent and type of differences between the Net Generation and previous generations of learners are the texts that N-Gen learners create and consume.
  • 5 more annotations...
  • • The most significant problem may be that since most faculty members do not fit the profile of the Net Generation, they most likely do not share the same learning styles as their students.
    • Not having been raised in the world of the N-Gen student, then, presents some significant challenges for faculty members who must attempt to address the needs of a learning style they have never experienced, may know little about, and may be unable to comprehend fully because of their different skills in processing information.
    • Current approaches to integrating social constructivism in the classroom recognize a practice that privileges dialogue among student writers as a means of discovering ideas and developing thinking, assumes that meaning is discovered through shared social experiences (Vygotsky 1978; Bruffe 1984), and recognizes that computer-networked collaboration and communication can help facilitate this experience (Bump 1990; Duin and Hanson 1994). Similarly, Wenger (1998) posits the concept of the community of practice, a group of individuals participating in communal activity and creating a shared identity by contributing to the practices of their communities. Some contemporary pedagogical research has already suggested such approaches, including privileging group work and using technology to meet N-Gen students' particular learning needs and strengths
    • Two factors will drive the adoption of a pedagogy that accesses the strengths of N-Gen learning styles for education. First, faculty members must spend time in the learning spaces of N-Gen students in order to develop an understanding of how N-Gen literacies and learning styles develop. We need to experience these learning spaces as learners before we can understand how to use them as teachers.
    • We must continue to find ways to give N-Gen students more control over their learning environments by allowing them to build social networks within and across learning experiences,
• 24 Aug 08
  

  Joan Vinall-Cox

  Essential reading: "we suggest that today's instructors are missing an opportunity by not learning to read the texts of the Net Generation. Failing to recognize these texts as valuable tools in the teaching and learning process, professors dismiss an entire constellation of literacy skills."

  learning education literacies Net-Gen

• 18 Aug 08
  

  justin hardman

  education learning innovate literacy humanities

• 13 Aug 08
  

  Patti Ganley

  Mark Mabrito and Rebecca Medley

  education Learning

• 12 Aug 08
  

  elderbob brannan

  Online_Facilitation

• 

  Christy Tucker

  The authors argue that Net Gen students are used to hyperlinked, nonlinear content, so they don't necessarily approach learning with the same kind of linear approach most of their professors do. The premise here focuses on how this affects writing, organizing information, and sense-making. They argue that multimedia projects can demonstrate the same depth of thinking as a traditional linear text. Registration required.

  netgeneration learning writing education highered flickr digitalliteracy

  • As a result, while N-Gens interact with the world through multimedia, online social networking, and routine multitasking, their professors tend to approach learning linearly, one task at a time, and as an individual activity that is centered largely around printed text (Hartman, Dzubian, and Brophy-Ellison 2007).
  • However, these digital texts do not necessarily lack style, coherence, or organization; they simply present meaning in ways unfamiliar to the instructor. For example, a collection of images on Flickr with authorial comments and tags certainly does not resemble the traditional essay, but the time spent on such a project, the motivation for undertaking it, and its ability to communicate meaning can certainly be equal to the investment and motivation required by the traditional essay—and the photos may actually provide more meaningful communication for their intended audience.
  • 1 more annotations...
  • • Texts that do not look like books or essays and that are structured in unfamiliar ways may leave educators with the perception that the authors of these texts lack necessary literacy skills. Are these students missing something, or are they coming to us with skills as researchers, readers, writers, and critical thinkers that have been developed in a context that faculty members may not understand and appreciate? The striking differences between the linear, print-based texts of instructors and the interactive, fluctuating, hyperlinked texts of the N-Gen student may keep instructors from fully appreciating the thought processes behind these texts. Learning how to teach the wired student requires a two-pronged effort: to understand how N-Gen student understand and process texts and to create a pedagogy that leverages the learning skills of this type of learner.
• 11 Aug 08
  

  skip zalneraitis

  innovate journal of online education

• 

  Will Richardson

  One indicator of the extent and type of differences between the Net Generation and previous generations of learners are the texts that N-Gen learners create and consume. Surrounded by digital media and technology-enhanced texts of all kinds, these student

  connective_reading literacy network_literacy for:budtheteacher

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