The following paper written by Michelle R. Dusseau (2013) Defining the Net Generation Learner: Exploring the Evolution of Teaching and Learning Styles for the Digital Native, is an excerpt from a larger paper discussing the shift in the learning paradigm for the net generation learner. It illustrates for the APA writer the following concepts:
The use of headings (note there is no heading for the INTRODUCTION)
Citations (including those for summary discourse)
Separation of a quote over 40 words in length
Maintaining a compassionate voice in third person writing.
It is appropriate that when discussing the
generational impact of a student population so complex that they have raised
questions about the teaching and learning theories which worked effectively for
generations before them, that even knowing what to call them is debated in the
community of scholars.
Generations are groups
comprised of individuals who share a common reality, a unique set of
experiences, and a distinctive personality (Jones, 1992). Accepted by most in
the academic community, The Millennials, named by Howe and Strauss (2000) in
their book Millennials Rising: The Next
Great Generation, are those born between 1982 and 2005. The name, however,
is where the consensus ends.
Simonson (2010)
questions the images attached to this new generation at their inception;
referred to as “rule followers who are engaged, optimistic, and present; Howe
and Strauss assigned Millennials core characteristics using the words
sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving”
(p. 80). Hoover (2009) adds that while there are many experts who have
researched, analyzed, published and presented about this generation, no one
seeking to have them clarify their traits should invite them to speak at the
same place for they would only argue and contradict one another.
Scholarly
discourse has given rise to other names, altering the timeline for, and
definitions of this generation. The Net Generation (Tapscott, 1999) and the
Digital Natives (Prensky, 2005) are now the most common, however Generation Y,
the IM Generation, and the Gamer Generation are sometimes used interchangeably
(Jones, 2011). No matter which name, the agreed upon characteristic of this new
generation is this: born after the invention of the computer, they have never
known learning, or life, without this technology (Baker, 2012; Brown, 2009).
The Same Old Situation
“For as long as
human hair has turned gray, elders have looked at their successors and frowned,”
states Hoover (2009), quoting Albert Einstein “while classrooms are many, the
number of young people who genuinely thirst after truth and justice is small”
(para. 8). This is a reminder that the criticism of youth is not a modern
phenomenon, nor one left to the uneducated. Each generation has had to cope
their own trials and strife, hoping for better for the ones who come behind them
and certain that they have had it worse. The Traditionalists faced the perils
of WWII and the Great Depression, the Baby Boomers suffered the assassination
of JFK and the Vietnam War, and Generation X faced surmounting social issues
surrounding high divorce rates and single parent families (Worley, 2011). What makes
the generational events that defined and molded the Net Generation, such as
9/11 and the Economic Crisis that followed, different than those faced by the
generations before them is not the measure of the events themselves. The
instantaneous access to both information and the globalization of opinion
sharing which follows has forever changed that way we receive, perceive, and
process information. This reality has effectively defined a new type of learner
(Beyers, 2009; Downing, 2006).
Defined by Immediacy.
A
haunting melody that reminds you of a lost love, the orange glow of the sunset
against the fading horizon, familiar images dancing across the screen or the
familiar laugh of a life-long friend. These iconic images create a sense of
immediacy, “the degree of perceived physical or psychological closeness between
people” (Richmond, McCroskey & Powell, 2012). Engaging the senses on an
emotional, psychological and even visceral level, they have the power to transcend
verbal language (Johnson, 2006). The principles of immediacy are not new, but the
globalization of and easy access to information
has magnified its impact and applicability. Technological advances have
circumvented the need for proxemics in in the process of creating, maintaining
and even building relationships for the Net Generation.
Defined by Access to Power.
Those in academia today,
both teachers and students, who are not digital natives, are digital immigrants
(Baker, 2012). Both non-traditional students and college professors are
learning to adapt in this non-native environment, struggling with this foreign
language. This struggle has led to the recognition of the Digital Immigrants;
those who were raised and educated in the 1990s or earlier, when advanced
technology, if accessible, was found at schools and the workplace rather than in
individual homes. Mobile options for the Digital Immigrant, if in existence,
were very limited. This is not a reality the Net Generation has ever experienced,
as the shift in both device power and affordable access occurred before their
formative schooling years. Most mobile devices today have more computing power
than an average desktop workstation had in the 1990s (Tamarkin and EDUCAUSE,
2010).
Accessibility has
also created a level playing field in media influence and information flow. The
smart phone has enabled the always connected to become journalist, photographer
and historian by being in the right place at the right time (Johnson, 2006).
The push of a button records the images of any event unfolding, and another
uploads these images to social media sites like face-book or twitter, via text
message to personal contacts, or through email. This new power position does
not end with the uploading of information, but the control over its dissemination.
The average reader becomes the editor by instantly pushing news though tweeting,
tagging, and sharing; creating trends and influencing what the day’s headlines
will be (Thompson, 2012).
Defined by communication.
Neurobiologists
have discovered the reorganization of the brain structure that occurs with the
introduction of new information, affecting the way people think. Analyzing this
process provides a map to the “wiring” of the brain of the Net Generation
learner (Autry & Berge, 2011). The recognition of a new media literacy has
developed during the analysis of the cognition process required to process
concurrent sensory stimuli (Johnson, 2006). “The NetGens have become some of
the most technologically adept members of society” (Windham, 2005, p 44).
Todays students interact, build community, acquire information, and experience
the world differently” (Schubert, 2011). The analysis of the new media literacy
has uncovered an emerging form of communication: Net-Gen Communication.
The conclusions
brought forth by Johnson (2006) illustrate some specific deviations in the core
behaviors of Net-Gen Communication from traditional communication methods of
expression and interaction practiced by of digital immigrants.(Johnson, 2006, p
73)
·
Multimodal - Not only are Net-Gen communicators
able to cope with messages coming from multiple pathways at once (sound, still
and moving images), they prefer it.
·
Interactive – The multimodal nature of this
communication mimics the interactive nature of verbal communication. This real
time immediacy is important. Since written language rarely involves real time interaction,
it is not processed as well by the Net-Gen Communicator.
·
Creative fluency and interpretive facility – Net-Gen
communicators are able to articulate ideas from these new communication modes
and decipher layers of meaning similar to the traditional forms of literacy:
reading, writing, and speaking.
·
Intuitive Nature – Digital natives do not see
unfamiliar technology as foreign and are able to comprehend the constructs of
technologies as they are introduced. This is enabling the Net-Gen Communicator
to act as an innovator, experimenting and creating new media.
From Cradle to Classroom: Impacts felt by the
arrival of the Net Generation
The increased
power of handheld devices has changed user’s expectations regarding service
availability and support. Those who become users of these technologies “expect
24/7/365 access to messaging and to the internet. They have work to do and expect
that the institutional software will function, that it will function
intuitively, and that it will function all the time”. (Tamarkin and EDUCAUSE,
2010 p. 34) This integration of technology bleeds into every aspect of the live
and learning of the NetGen student. At school their demand for control and
instant feedback is driving online quizzes and smaller point values at many
colleges and universities (Autry & Berge, 2011; Moore, 2007, p. 46). Their desires
are a reflection of the instant access world growing around them:
“They were born at
the same time as Macs and PCs. Starbucks, voicemail, Bill Gates, and AIDS have
always been a part of their lives. At rock concerts, they use the lights from
the cell phones, not lighters or matches. Welcome to the Millennial Generation,
whose students are even now entering the doors of higher education.” (p. 45)
References:
Autry, A. J., Jr.,
& Berge, Z. (2011). Digital natives and digital immigrants: Getting to know
each other. Industrial and Commercial Training, 43(7), 460-466.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00197851111171890
Beyers, R.
(2009). A Five Dimensional Model for Educating the Net Generation. Journal
of Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 218-227.
Downing, K.
(2006). Next generation: What leaders need to know about the millennials.
Leadership in Action, 26(3), 3-6.
Prensky, M.
(2005). Listen to the Natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4),
8-13.
Howe, N., & Strauss,
W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. New York, NY:
Vintage.
Prensky, M.
(2005). Listen to the Natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4),
8-13.
Richmond , V.,
McCroskey, J., & Powell, L. (2013) Organizational Communication for
Survival. Boston, MA. Pearson.
Tapscott, D.
(1999). Educating the Net Generation. Educational Leadership, 56(5),
6.
Worley, K.
(2011). Educating College Students of the Net Generation. Adult
Learning, 22(3), 31-39.
*Please note that this excerpt, while part of a larger paper, has been submitted to turnitin.com and is included in the database of original work. Any use of it in another document should be cited appropriately.
