My Learning Space

Net Generation students were born into the age of information technology. Their attitudes, expectations, skills and learning styles reflect their environment – which contrasts to our own upbringing.

From my personal experience as an educator, I’ve outlined what I believe are the 7 key traits of the Net Generation:

1. Connected: Net Gen expect instant access to information. If they need to know something, they will Google it. They also need connectivity to their peers. Social networking sites such as MySpace exemplify this fact.
2. Communicative: Net Gen are early adopters of new devices and social tools. They love iPods, mobile phones, sms, social networks, chat, IM and to a lesser extent, email (because it is not instant).
3. Collaborative: Net Gen enjoy group work and exchanging ideas with others. This trait follows from the first two, because when one is connected and communicative, they will most likely be collaborating with others.
4. Digital: Net Gen are digital natives. Lets face it, our students are as young as the Internet. Modern technology is a normal part of their lives.
5. Experiential: Net Gen prefer to learn by doing rather than being told what to do. They explore, experiment and build. “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do and I understand”. Chinese Proverb
6. Participative: Net Gen are producers not consumers of information. They are actively involved in Web 2.0 technologies such as blogger, flickr, myspace, youtube and wikipedia.
7. Visual: Net Gen prefer image over text rich environments for learning.

In summary, Net Gen pose significant challenges for school educators. What are your experiences and thoughts with regard to educating the Net Gen?…

If you are interested in learning more about Net Gen, here’s my recommended reading

The community of Webware.com users recently voted for its favorite Web applications. The Top 100 Web apps, 10 in each of 10 categories, determined by Webware readers and the fans of the sites made the final cut.

There were more than 5,000 nominations for sites to be included in this awards program, which Webware’s editors pruned to a list of 250 finalists. Users then voted on those finalists. There were 489,467 votes cast.

Click here to view The Top 100 Webware sites for 2007

Do you agree with the Top 100 list? Are there any surprise inclusions or omissions from the respective categories? Ok, now here’s an interesting spin…if you could choose the Top 10 Best Apps for Education (from the Top 100 list), what would be your recommendations be & why?

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?