Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management

Teaching Homo ZappiensNew Approaches for New Generations

Prof. Dr. Wim Veen

Is The Appearance of Homo Zappiens an Ordinary Generation Gap?

Ordinary Generation Gap

Phase 1: looking for movement and change

Phase 2: we have seen it all…...

Phase 3: do not disturb…..

Who is Homo Zappiens• The E-Generation is the generation of

- the remote-control

- Doom, Atlantis, Planetarion Unreal Tournament, PlayStation I and II

• The generation that cannot listen and is moving at your table all the time

• The generation for which learning is playing and having fun

Chatting in three rooms

at a time with different

electronic personalities

Sending e-cards including

text, sound, and images

Surfing the Net using

search engines

Finding out about the

latest earthquakes

Who is Homo Zappiens

• The generation that invents games – with no winners, losers, no start and end,

and making their own changing rules

• The generation that is skateboarding up the stairs, surfing the waves of the sea, and snowboarding in stead of skiing.

• The generation thinking of school as a meeting place

Complaining Homo Zappiens

• Short attention spans– I will explain how a volcano works!

• Hyper active behaviour– Sit down and listen!

• No discipline– This is the fifth time you forget your book!

• No respect– Don’t talk like this to me!

Homo Zappiens at Work

Integrated scanning skills

Multi-tasking

Processingdiscontinuedinformation

Non-linearapproaches

Integrated scanning skills

Multi-tasking

Processingdiscontinuedinformation

Non-linearapproaches

Homo Zappiens at Work

Skimming text, sounds,

movement, colours, and

images

Integrated scanning skills

Homo Zappiens at Work

Integrated scanning skills

Multi-tasking

Processingdiscontinuedinformation

Non-linearapproaches

Homo Zappiens at Work

Listening hisfavorite music

Phoning to his friend

Surfing the Net

Doing his home-work

Homo Zappiens at Work

Integrated scanning skills

Multi-tasking

Processingdiscontinuedinformation

Non-linearapproaches

Processing discontinued information

Channel 1

Channel 2

Channel 3

Homo Zappiens at Work

Integrated scanning skills

Multi-tasking

Processingdiscontinuedinformation

Non-linearapproaches

Non-linear approaches

B CA E FD

Linear

B

C A

EF

DNon-linear

What learning is about...• Learning is an active mental process of the

learner• Learning is constructing knowledge

– through reflection with the ‘inner self’, and through communication with others

– transforming information into meaningful knowledge

• Teaching is enabling students to be active, communicating, thus constructing knowledge

Society

Individual

New learning situations

Knowledge DevelopmentK

nolw

edge

Time1500 2000

ConstructionInstruction

First Conclusion

• Homo Zappiens prepares for future

• Education is underestimating the Homo Zappiens

• Education does not recognise the screenagers’ skills

• Education will have to adopt entirely new approaches

Second Conclusion

• ….The skills screenagers develop while scanning computer screens, zapping the TV channels, ‘criss-cross reading’ texts, and thus rapidly processing huge amounts of information, will guarantee the survival of our civilisation in the 21st century.

Teaching Homo Zappiens in Schools

• Children will be demand based learners– discovering by exploratory play– using electronic devices in classrooms– holistically addressing learning

• Children will be clients to be served– the learning process belonging to them

• Schools to take advantage of the new learning skills

New Approaches for Teaching

• Flexibility of content

• Flexibility of learning models

• Flexibility in time/scheduling

• Flexibility of goals and assessment

• Flexibility of the learning community

Flexible Content

• Learning goals in stead of curricula – using new resources available from

everywhere• math on the net (math)• environmental studies (Interwad)• resources for kids (about.com)

– using the communication facilities for asking, finding out and discuss

Flexibility of Learning Models

Teacher led Community led Learner led

Flexibility in Time/Scheduling

• 7 lessons a day• each lesson is 50

minutes• each week is the

same• 40 weeks a year

• Less whole classroom teaching

• Subject oriented timeslots

• Varying periods for individual and group working

Flexibility of Assessment• Students own their learning process• Schools may define competencies• Students can take responsibility

– formulating their own learning goals– and checking them

• Kids can prove their competencies– by submitting materials showing their

competencies e.g. in electronic portfolios

Flexibility of Learning Communities

• Opening up schools – e.g. Tesco’s 2000 Network Learning

Communities: learning with parents, external experts, governmental authorities: the extended learning community

• Schools will loose their primacy of educational services

• Schools as meeting places– learning taking place anywhere

New Roles for Teachers

• From a ‘Sage on the stage’ towards a ‘Guide on the Side’

• From a content provider towards an information broker

• From an external expert towards a

Side-by-Side Learner in an online learning community

New Roles for Students

• Students should keep track of their learning process

• Students should learn how to collaborate and give feed-back to peers

• Students should help their teachers in acquiring new Zappiens skills

New Roles for Parents

• Participation in school related activities – providing Internet access at home– learning how to search cyberspace

• Supporting schools to innovate

• Participate in electronic discussions on education– e.g. look for examples of best practice

Thank you for listening