My Learning Space

‘Google Generation’ refers to a generation of people born since 1993, who have grown up in an Internet dominated world. According to Wikipedia, the phrase has entered common usage as a “…way of referring to a generation whose first port of call for knowledge is the internet and a search engine, Google being the most popular”.

The Online Computer Library Center recently conducted a global survey that indicates the Google Generation stereotype may be true.

-89% college students use search engine to begin an information search (compared to 2% who start from a library web site)
-93% are satisfied or very satisfied with their overall search engine experience (compared to 84% of library web site searchers)
-College students use the library less and read less since discovering internet research tools
-Books are still the primary library brand association with this group, despite large investment in digital resourcing.

When one considers that our students today are no older than the Internet, it is understandable why most are comfortable using a computer and keyboard in preference to pen and paper for their research and studies. I don’t qualify for the ‘Google Generation’ but can relate to this phenomenon through my own changing information search behaviour.

During the 1980s, when I was at school, the Internet had not been popularised and I did not have access to computers. Books, pen and paper were my research tools of choice. Upon entering university as an undergraduate, in the early 1990s, the Internet was born and  I learned how to use a computer, but I still preferred to visit libraries, searching online catalogues to find relevant books, browsing journals in open reserve, then photocopying what I thought was essential reading for any given assignment.

My whole approach to information researching changed upon my return to university as a postgraduate in the late 1990s. The World Wide Web had evolved and I was comfortable using Internet search engines and online databases to locate information to be organised, analysed and word processed for assignments. For me, this new-found research approach did not necessarily require pen, paper, books, photocopying, let alone a time-consuming visit to the library. I believe today’s search engines provide us instant access to a wealth of information. However, despite new tools, the researcher’s ability to collect, organise and analyse information remains paramount.

What follows is a summary of a report titled: ‘Information behaviour of the researcher of the future’ conducted by CIBER group at the University College London. CIBER developed a ‘virtual’ longitudinal study using current evidence to create a longitudinal study from relevant literature with primary data from a study of how people use the British Library and JISC web sites. The study was commissioned by the British Library and JISC to “identify how the specialist researchers of the future, currently in their school or pre-school years, are likely to access and interact with digital resources in five to ten years’ time”.  The report recognises that evidence relevant to issues raised is incomplete and contradictory in some instances. Holistically, the report claims that the Google Generation is a myth because “…research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups”…

Emerging themes: young people using internet research tools
-Information literacy has not improved despite greater access to technology
-Speed of internet searching means little time is spent evaluating the accuracy, authority or relevance
-Poor understanding of their information needs and have difficulty developing effective search strategies
-Prefer to express themselves in natural language rather than analysing more effective use of key words
-Find it difficult to assess relevance of search results

Ubiquitous use of search engines raises other issues
-Young people don’t appreciate the networked structure of the internet
-As a result, they associate search engines such as Google as primary internet brands
-Don’t find library funded resources as intuitive for their needs as search engines

The report concludes that young people today are…
-More competent with technology especially word processing, but are less competent with other applications such as presentation, spreadsheet, graphics and web page software
-Higher expectations of ICTs
-The ‘cut-and-paste’ generation
-Not expert searchers

It is important that young learners acquire critical analysis skills to better evaluate the information they find via Internet search engines. Teachers can play an essential role in this process. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the teachers interviewed in the study were information literate, their attitudes and skills were not being transferred to their students.

Looking to the future. Expect to see…
-A unified web culture
-The rise of e-book
-Content explosion eg. Google Print
-New forms of scholarship and publication eg. blogs, wikis and Second Life

Conclusion
Students prefer Internet search engines to library tools such as online catalogues and databases, because they yield quicker results and instant access to full information on request. These implications must be considered in the design and function of future libraries for all ages. Libraries are no longer simply physical places to borrow books. They need to be physical and virtual spaces where people can effectively search, locate and evaluate relevant information in a timely manner.

Open Learning advocates flexible education that can occur about anything, anywhere, anytime by anyone. This concept redefines the traditionally held view of education whereby students and teachers are bound to a strict bureaucratic system.

My Learning Space has now made available a series of free Open Learning courses designed to promote the professional development of educators. Each course contains a sequence of activities, resources and references. Essentially, all courses are self-enrollable, self-paced and self-directed, however, there are tools for educators to connect, communicate and collaborate with other participants throughout the experience. Upon successful completion of each course, teachers are able to download and print a Certificate of Participation.

Special mention is due to Open University in the UK for generously sharing their resources under a Creative Commons agreement and Chardelle Busch for her contribution to Moodle’s certificate module.

Click here to access Open Learning courses. Please note that before enrolling in courses you are required to register using a valid email account. Click here to view a summary of current courses.

Traditionally, education has been an entity, a system, a learning process that students undergo, or all or a combination of these things. Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying:

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school“.

In modern terms, education today is about learning as a life-long experience, not simply a process that students endure for a period of their lives.

Future learning requires deconstructing traditional views of education as an institution. For education, the next 10 years are about building communities of learners that can connect, communicate and collaborate about anything, anywhere and anytime. Social constructivism maintains that we learn well from expressing our ideas for others in a culture of shared meanings and contexts. Moreover, the advent of Web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX, blog, chat, forums, podcasting, RSS feeds, wikis and so on, means that learning can be self-directed, dynamic, interactive and media-rich.

Boundaries that exist in the physical world, don’t necessarily exist in the virtual world. Virtually speaking, the world is flat. In theory, every person with an internet connection and some basic computer literacy has access to a wealth of digital information providing opportunities for new experiences, knowledge and skills. Technology can go beyond the four walls of a traditional classroom or lecture theatre. This ‘level playing field’ can mitigate inequities based on age, gender, geography, race, religion or wealth.

I believe technology is a driving factor in the pedagogical paradigm shift. The role for educators has transformed from instructors to that of facilitators, knowledge architects and co-learners. It’s an exciting time to be involved in education.

The ‘mass production line’ is a great analogy to describe the traditional school system. Students as the raw material and educators as the cogs in the machine working for a bureaucracy. For too long, many schools and universities have operated like this: farms and factories that produce clones of a pre-determined specification, fit for society.

It is refreshing to consider an educational system that is not bound by four walls. Learning can happen about anything, anywhere and anytime. On the same token, our learners must become the producers, not simply institutionalised consumers of knowledge. I believe, that we as educators, must facilitate opportunities for our learners to connect, communicate and collaborate to extend their cognitive potential, virtually speaking. Technology is the perfect catalyst to realise this potential.

Will we ever deconstruct the traditional role of schools and universities as physical entities, bound by systems, structures and controlling mechanisms?