What is it the kids say these days?
I’ve been out of the office — and relying on dial-up into the Internet this week. Which probably warrants it’s own discussion about how Internet content has changed and how we now create things that are no longer dial-up friendly. But instead, for this learning partner update, I want to share 3 things that crossed my desk and how they relate to learning.
- Harris Polls included this info-bite in a recent newsletter:
With a 21 point increase of laptop ownership in the last two years…the dorm desktop appears as ‘old-school’ as the word processor did in the ‘90’s
- I shared an article about the death and life of Richard Jewell with a colleague’s son recently, and then it occurred to me the son may have been 8 or 9 when Richard Jewell saved 100 people (or more) for death or injury when a bomb exploded in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics. Students today, as always, may not have the frame of reference as faculty do.
- The Beloit C0llege Mindset List was published including this from the press release:
- Food has always been a health concern. Consumer awareness about ingredients and fats has always been energized. They’ve never “rolled down” a car window, and to them Jack Nicholson is mainly known as the guy who played “The Joker.”
- As usual, they remind their elders how quickly time has passed. For them Pete Rose has never been in baseball. Abbie Hoffman’s always been dead. Johnny Carson has never been live on TV, and Nelson Mandela has always been free.
- As for the Berlin Wall, what’s that?
That times change,
that new innovations work their way into the classroom,
that chronological age separates us from our students;
none of these are new concepts or even news to us as learning partners.
What is important in terms of change is the availability of learning opportunities and the degree of freedom of access we now enjoy. What the new technology — and younger student’s expectations — offer us is an opportunity to help them continue learning under our influence even out side of the class and classroom.
We can connect with students -or read another way- students can connect with learning, in more ways that ever before. Some of the “new” ways are just variations on a theme. Some are truely innovative.
But before we all jump too far on the new-tool-technology bandwagon, it’s important to consider what students are saying about technology use in the classroom. One of the best sources for this perspective, in the undergrad arena, is the Educause The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007 .
According to Educause,
the study, which reports noticeable changes from previous years, is based on quantitative data from a spring 2007 survey and interviews with 27,846 freshman, senior, and community college students at 103 higher education institutions. It focuses on what kinds of information technologies these students use, own, and experience; their technology behaviors, preferences, and skills; how IT impacts their experiences in their courses; and their perceptions of the role of IT in the academic experience.
“IT is not a good substitute for good teaching. Good teachers are good with or without IT and students learn a great deal from them. Poor teachers are poor with or without IT and students learn little from them.”
I think that speaks volumes.
