Daily Archives: January 26, 2012

#Change11 #CCK12 Net generation, teaching and learning with new and emergent technology

There are a lot of assumptions about net generation: and one of the myths lies with the: Net generation are technology savvy.

In accordance to this research (Kennedy et al. 2008):

While some differences between ‘generations’ were apparent from the data presented in this paper (e.g. for gaming, mobile phone use and standard use of the web), many of the first-year students surveyed as part of this investigation came to university relatively unfamiliar with a range of emerging technologies and tools.

And they encountered staff who were often no more or less familiar with the same technologies. So rather than university staff and students being seen on opposite sides of a digital divide, the data from this investigation show them often united in their lack of familiarity with new and emerging technologies.

For several years now academics have been encouraged to implement these new technologies in  classrooms and curricula (e.g. Barnes et al. 2007). But if, as the findings in this paper suggest, the apparent popularity of these technologies in everyday life is overstated, the current level of use of emerging technologies is unlikely to drive their widespread adoption in academia. In short, it is unlikely that teaching and learning activities that are underpinned by social networking, file sharing, and user created content will spontaneously flourish based on an established and widespread user base.

How do these impact on education and learning?  What changes are needed?

Faced with the challenges and difficulties at this uncertain time, what are the options to embrace those changes?

1. Experiment and try innovative and novel approaches, like

(a) what Sebastian Thrun and Salman Khan are doing?

(b) what George Siemens, Stephen Downes, and Dave Cormier are working on – the MOOCs such as The Change11 and the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge CCK12?  Or what Alec Couros and David Wiley have been teaching with their influential courses?

(c) what others have been working on in networked learning such as Cloudworks, new initiatives in the future of education and online learning?

Have I missed out any?