Dispelling the myth of the digital native Chris

Dispelling the myth of the digital native Chris Jones c. r. jones@open. ac. uk © Dr C, Jones. Some rights reserved. This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. 0 Unported License. The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

New kinds of learners? “In education they [the Net generation] are forcing a change in the model of pedagogy, from a teacher-focused approach based on instruction to a student-focused model based on collaboration. ” (Tapscott 2009 p 11). “In order for schools to adapt to the habits of Digital Natives and how they are processing information, educators need to accept that the mode of learning is changing rapidly in a digital age… ” (Palfrey and Gasser 2008 p 239) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

The Net Generation Most of our students, moreover, are part of what we now describe as the Net Generation. This is a generation who think IM, text and Google are verbs not applications! “They expect to be engaged by their environment, with participatory, sensory-rich, experiential activities (either physical or virtual) and opportunities for input. They are more oriented to visual media than previous generations – and prefer to learn by doing rather than by telling or reading. ” They prefer to discover rather than be told. (Becta Research Report 2008, page 13) So, as John Thompson frames the question: “Is education 1. 0 ready for Web 2. 0 students? ” Brenda Gourley VC Open University, Council address Sept 2008 The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Another example… Image from Wired magazine 2006 The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Claims about ‘Natives’ Prensky claims that if you’ve done any of these, you’re a Digital Immigrant: • Printed out your email (or had your administrative assistant print it out for you–even worse) • You need to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen) • You’ve brought people physically into your office to see an interesting web site (rather than just sending them the URL). • The “Did you get my email? ” phone call (my emphasis) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

The generational metaphor Howe and Strauss have a long standing argument about US generations A four stage historical cycle Different forces in other countries? E. g. China, or RSA https: //sites. google. com/site/sjlewisprojects/the-ascent-of-man The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

The brain and plasticity Baroness Greenfield the Director of the Royal Institution in the United Kingdom told the House of Lords that children's experiences on social networking sites: "are devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term significance. As a consequence, the mid-21 st century mind might almost be infantilised, characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity". 24 th of February 2009 (http: //www. guardian. co. uk/uk/2009/feb/24/social-networking-site-changing-childrens-brains ) Claims by Prensky Neuroplasticity Malleability The way people think changes with experience Attention span and reflection Stimultation changes brain structure and the way people think Attention ‘in bursts’ Reflection – this needs translating into digital native language The consistency of the human condition Relative biological stability Socio-cultural and historical adaptability The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Claims about the university & learning Tapscott and more recently Tapscot and Williams say: Universities are losing their grip on higher learning as the Internet is, inexorably, becoming the dominant infrastructure for knowledge And The current model of pedagogy, which is at the heart of the modern university, is becoming obsolete. They recommend: Collaborative learning: Reinventing pedagogy Collaborative Knowledge Production: Opening Up the University The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

The crisis in universities? Tapscott claims the traditional model is in crisis: Industrial (mass production) The combination of the Internet, the new generation of learners, the demands of the global knowledge economy, and the shock of the current economic crisis is creating a perfect storm for universities. (Tapscott and Williams 2009) Broadcast A broadcast is, by definition, the transmission of information from transmitter to receiver in a oneway, linear fashion. (Tapscott and Williams 2009) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Criticism of Tapscott and Williams Bates http: //www. tonybates. ca/2010/02/14/a-critique-oftapscott-and-williams-views-on-university-reform/ Tapscott and Williams write as if they have discovered something that has in fact been known by many people for some time… The interesting question is not what universities should be doing, but why it isn’t happening. The Tapscott and Williams analysis of this is trite, to say the least: “It’s the legacy of established human and educational infrastructure, ” says Proenza. The analogy is not the newspaper business, which has been weakened by the distribution of knowledge on the Internet, he notes. “We’re more like health care. We’re challenged by obstructive, non-market-based business models. We’re also burdened by a sense that doctor knows best, or professor knows best. ” The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

My own view Broadcast Ignores research on audience – broadcast is an active process Bakhtin and addressivity Always the imagined other Weak links in social networks Networks enhance weak rather than the strong ties associated with collaboration Sfard – On two metaphors Acquisition and participation Privatisation and the market model This would not be the result of student pressure but of political and neo-liberal policy The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Prensky and Digital Wisdom In 2007 Prensky was still saying this in a Becta publication The key point is that new technologies for education are arriving and changing really fast – too fast for even teachers who want to learn to use all of them to effectively do so. (And, of course, there are many teachers who don’t want to use new technologies at all. ) Yet our students are clamouring for these technologies to be used as part of their education By 2010 he was saying: Homo sapiens digital, then, differs from today's human in two key aspects: He or she accepts digital enhancement as an integral fact of human existence, and he or she is digitally wise, both in the considered way he or she accesses the power of digital enhancements to complement innate abilities and in the way in which he or she uses enhancements to facilitate wiser decision making. Digital wisdom transcends the generational divide defined by the immigrant/native distinction. And: Digital wisdom can be, and must be, learned and taught. As we offer more courses in digital literacy, we should also offer students guidance in developing digital wisdom. The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Moral panic “moral panics occur when a particular group in society… is portrayed by the news media as embodying a threat to societal values and norms… The concept of moral panic is widely used in the social sciences to explain how an issue of public concern can achieve a prominence that exceeds the evidence in support of the phenomenon. . . In many ways much of the current debate about digital natives represents an academic form of moral panic. Arguments are often couched in dramatic language, proclaim a profound change in the world, and pronounce stark generational differences. ” (Bennett et al. 2007) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

The influence of the market We can track within the ‘digital native’ literature and discourse an alignment with this vision of higher education as market driven and determined by a culture of enterprise. The need for institutions and individual academics to change (to become more ‘digital’) is regularly justified by referral to student ‘needs’ which come to stand as proxy for market ‘needs’ (Bayne and Ross 2007) “It's become a stereotypical statement, but children today really are digital natives. Much, much more than most of us realise. Even more so than most readers of this article, who are probably reasonably ICT literate. ” (Research Machines- Digital Natives) http: //www. rm. com/Secondary/In. The. News/Article. asp? cref=MNE WS 1122876 The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

What is the evidence? 77. 4 % of students owned a laptop and 38. 1 owned a desktop computer In Survey 2 the ownership of laptops was 75. 2% By Survey 3 the ownership was 88% and 43% had bought a laptop during their first year at university The differences across age and gender groups (Survey 1) were at significant levels e. g. female students (χ² =13. 87, d. f. = 1, p =. 003) and students 25 years of age and younger were more likely to own a laptop (χ² =26. 52, d. f. = 1, p <. 001) and male students (χ² =18. 94, d. f. = 1, p <. 001), and those age 26 years of age and over (χ² =31. 03, d. f. = 1, p <. 001) were more likely to own a desktop The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Choice of Technologies Students tended to use the same technologies for study as they did for social life and leisure (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, p <. 001 for all the survey items) Students chose to use the same technologies for study as those they were required to use on their courses In general used them more than they are required to Blogs, Wikis and Virtual Worlds little used. The most used technologies allowed: access to resources and personal communication Students aged 25 years of age and under tended to use communication technology (text and instant messaging, social networking sites and Internet telephony) more frequently than older students (p <. 001, oneway ANOVA) Gender effects were not as pronounced: female students tended to use text messaging and social networking sites more often (p <. 001, one-way ANOVA) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Use of Social Networking 68. 3 % of the respondents in the sample participated in online social networks (e. g. Facebook, Bebo, My. Space) at least on a daily basis or more frequently Variation in terms of frequency of use between Age of students - 25 years of age and under and older students (F(1, 587) = 332. 23, p < 0. 001) Net generation age students (25 and under) 81. 7 % used social networking on at least a daily basis, whilst only 5. 1 % ‘never’ participated in online social networks. 55. 7 % of students aged 26 years of age and older never participated in social networking sites and only 24. 3 % of them reported daily use. 4. 3 % of those aged 20 and younger never used this technology compared to 78. 5 % of those aged 35 years of age and older. The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Intra-generational difference Item Means and F values on Self-Reported Frequency of Technology Tasks among Net Generation Students (5 -Point Scale, One-way ANOVA, d. f. = 1 ). 20 and under 21 -25 Read and send e-mail 4. 33 4. 34 Use mobile phone messaging 4. 81* 4. 66* Instant messaging 3. 75* 3. 36* Participate in online social networks 4. 32* 4. 06* Read and write blogs 1. 57 1. 58 Use Wikis 2. 76 2. 69 Play games 2. 29 2. 51 Download/ stream music 2. 97 2. 80 Download/ stream TV/ video 2. 81** 2. 29** Upload audio, images or video to social networks 2. 47** 2. 32** * p <. 05 ** p <. 001 The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Describing the variations Place based whole time vs distance learning part-time Mode of study seems to have a significant effect Distance students Lower use of ICT than place based students Lower use affects both Net gen aged and older students Less likely to be social interactive or web interactive Other clusters Gender Females show greater social interactivity and lower web interactivity than males International students Show lower social interactivity but higher web interactivity The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Summarising the evidence The empirical evidence shows that: Digital and networked technologies infuse most students lives and the material context claimed for a Net Generation exist There age related differences but no single identifiable generational set of changes Social Networking and communication technologies are at the centre of age related differences The Net Generation age group is itself divided by age internally There are other significant factors including, institutional mode and gender apart from age Students are often physically alone but usually digitally connected SNS e. g. Facebook and Mobile (Cell) phones Digital networks help maintain distant links (eg. Home from university/university friends from home) The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Implications for teaching? The Net Generation/Digital Natives and determinism Hard forms - “In education they [the Net generation] are forcing a change in the model of pedagogy, from a teacher-focused approach based on instruction to a student-focused model based on collaboration. ” (Tapscott 2009 p 11). Softer forms - “In order for schools to adapt to the habits of Digital Natives and how they are processing information, educators need to accept that the mode of learning is changing rapidly in a digital age… ” (Palfrey and Gasser 2008 p 239) Are there things we will just have to accept? If so what are they? What will we have to do? The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Choices not necessity Students seem to use new technologies that allow (afford) – Communication Access Students (in general) are not currently using many of the most talked about new technologies Blogs, Wikis, Virtual Worlds If students tend to use the technologies that they are required to use… I would choose to include these new technologies in my courses Because … I would choose to avoid these new technologies in my courses Because… The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Engaging with university Digital Natives as Digital phrenology? Association between known features and presumed characteristics Two related claims The ubiquitous nature of certain technologies, specifically gaming (Oblinger 2004, Prensky 2001, 2001 a) and the Web, have affected the outlook of an entire age cohort in advanced economies The new technologies emerging with this generation, most recently Web 2. 0, have particular characteristics that afford certain types of social engagement. What is the relationship between student activity and university context? The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Project References Jones, C. , Ramanau, R. , Cross, S. J. , and Healing, G. (2010) Net generation or digital natives: Is there a distinct new generation entering university? Computers & Education Vol 54 (3) pp 722 -732. http: //dx. doi. org/10. 1016/j. compedu. 2009. 022 http: //oro. open. ac. uk/18700/ Jones, C. , and Cross, S. J. (2009) Is there a Net generation coming to university? Association for Learning Technology Conference, Manchester 2009. Available from: http: //oro. open. ac. uk/18468/ http: //repository. alt. ac. uk/view/year/2009. html Jones, C. , and Ramanau, R. (2009) The Net Generation enters university: What are the implications for Technology Enhanced Learning? M-2009: Proceedings of the 23 rd ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education including the 2009 EADTU Annual Conference, 7 -10 June 2009, Maastricht NL. http: //oro. open. ac. uk/18690/ http: //www. ou. nl/Docs/Campagnes/ICDE 2009/Papers/Final_paper_088 jones. pdf Jones, C. , and Ramanau, R. (2009) Collaboration and the Net generation: The changing characteristics of first year university students. Proceedings of the 8 th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning: CSCL 2009: CSCL Practices. http: //oro. open. ac. uk/18689 Jones, C. , and Hosein, A. (2010 in press). Profiling University Students’ Use of Technology: Where Is the Net Generation Divide? The International Journal of Technology Knowledge and Society. Project web site: http: //www. open. ac. uk/researchprojects/netgeneration/ The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology