DIGITAL STUDENTS – IS THERE A GAP?

Dr.ing. Diana Andone

EDEN Fellow 2012

“Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania

EDEN 2012 Porto

Dig

ital st

uden

ts

http://homepage.mac.com/dvchelo/page1/page3/files/page3-1003-pop.html

digitalones

N‐Gen–NetGenera1onMillennials

InternetGenera1onEchoBoomersBoomlet

Nexters

Genera1onY

TheNintendoGenera1ontheDigitalGenera1on

Homo Zappiens

Digital natives Digital immigrants

distinction is based on age neuroplasticity of the brain

Mark Prensky, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010

SIMPLISTIC

Digital students & Technology

Digital students

RWW

Digital students

RWW

Take tehnology for granted

Digitalstudents

Digital students & Technology

PewInternet Research

Digital students & Technology

PewInternet Research

Digital students & Technology

PewInternet Research

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The RO students’ use of technology

1. Mobile phone 2. SMS – text messaging 3. E-mail 4. Search engines (like Gogle) 5. Online messenger (Yahoo, MSN, others) 6. Skype, Google Talk, etc (VoIP) 7. Youtube (or other online video) 8. Flickr, Picassa (or other online photo album) 9. Online games 10. Blog 11. Wikipedia 12. FaceBook, MySpace, Hi5 or other online social networking 13. Second Life 14. Google Documents 15. Twitter

Digital students & Technology

  the technology is very much embedded in young generation life their “use and skills are not uniform. There is no evidence of widespread and universal disaffection, or of a distinctly different learning style the like of which has never been seen before.” (Bennett, Maton and Kervin 2008).

  there is a ”relation to the links between social disadvantage and digital disengagement”, “technological and social disadvantages are inextricably linked” (Helsper 2008).

how the young generation mix technology in learning

  Accesses to technology, education level, society implications, media exposure

Digital students & Technology & Learning

Digital students & Learning Selwyn’s (2006) indicate also that

students, which had an extensive use of technology, were also frustrated that their freedom of use was diminished in the educational environment and “were well aware of a digital disconnect but displayed a pragmatic acceptance rather than the outright alienation from the school that some commentators would suggest

Digital students & Learning Oblinger, 2005,2009, Raines 2010, Livingstone 2008, 2010 :   Ability to multitask   Preference to learn from pictures, sounds and video

rather than text   Interactive and networked activities are their first choice

  young people lack key skills in evaluating adequately online content and they are inclined to use it as their own without knowing or understanding the skill of paraphrasing (Livingstone, Bober and Helsper 2005)

Digital students & Learning Homo Zappiens communicates using tools such as MSN,

chat rooms and cell phones (Vern) Bob Woods they “rely on the ‘Net to help them with

completing their schoolwork virtual guidance counsellor virtual study groups (Jones and Madden)

They are not “the many”….

Digitalstudents

Digitalstudents

Digitalstudents

Technology Characteristics Learning Communication

Computers Confident

Tech-savvy

Constant use of technology Write electronically

(type)

Games Strategic thinking

Evaluation and ‘reputation

systems’

Learn from images, audio,

videos

Doing rather then knowing

Motivated for achieving

(winning)

Goal focused

Internet &

Web

Search and browsing for

information

Networking

Non-linear

Rely on the online data

Danger of plagiarism

Permanently online

Immediate response

Mobiles Use of multiple tools and

media

‘Texting thumb’

Meet and connect instantly

Share and exchange

‘Push’ information and

knowledge

Instant

communication

enjoy enhanced interactivity and connections perceive their learning environment as boundless no single approach leave the power of choice of the ‘right one’ to the

student

Master the technology!

Think differently!!

Is it a Gap?   debate about digital natives represents an academic form

of moral panic” (Bennett, Maton and Kervin 2008)   connection between the use of technology and age

several others indicates that “learning and technology has nothing to do with generational divides.” (Ponterfact, 2010).

  Vaidhyanathan states “there is no such thing as a digital generation”, as he mentions that in every generation there is a similar bell curve for accepting technology (Vaidhyanathan 2008).

Is it a Gap? April 2012, 53% of American adults age 65 and older use

the internet or email

69% of adults ages 65 and older report that they have a mobile phone, up from 57% in May 2010

February 2012, one third (34%) of internet users age 65 and older use social networking sites such as Facebook, and 18% do so on a typical day

August 2011, 86% of internet users age 65 and older use email

Pew Intrenet – 6 June 2012 Older adults and internet use

Don’t be afraid!

@diando70

Diana Andone Director

eLearning Center “Politehnica” University of Timisoara

Romania diana@cm.upt.ro

EDEN 2012 Porto