How the characteristics of your students might affect how they learn and what an ideal environment might look like for them?
Due to the latest findings which confirm that ‘there is no significant differences between staff and students with regards to their technology-based activities’ (Educating the Net Generation Handbook, 2009, p19) educators at tertiary level don’t need to be concern about accommodating the expectation of techno-savvy net generation of students in contemporary settings.
Although the research shows that students coming from different educational setting and who are expected to have a very different understanding and knowledge of using technology, similarly as students from different demographic backgrounds and low socio-economic status have not demonstrated overall diversity in usage patterns (p24).
Hence the accommodating learning environment is not about accommodating the students’ different usage patterns of technology but in understanding the specific needs of students coming from diversity of backgrounds and of different age groups. For example international students might be techno-savvy but their understanding of using web based information might not be according to university standards, therefore all students regardless of belonging to net generation or not need to be educated about using the we based information by introducing them to referencing practices and critical research skills used in research.
Educating the Net Generation:A Handbook of Findings for Practice and Policy. (2009).
Retrieved June 28 2010. From www.netgen.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/handbook/Sec3Investigation.pdf
I agree Martina. As educators, it is important that we look at who is able to access the web and don't assume that everyone is up on the latest technology. We will all probably have diverse ages, backgrounds & cultures in our classes and will need to take them into consideration. My daughter's friend went through to year 12 without having the internet or even a printer as her father was too scared on what she would find on the internet. She had to print her essays at school or our house. I felt that she was disadvantaged by this in comparison to my own daughter. However, she still came top in English at the school, maybe because she wasn't distracted by MSN & facebook like all her classmates. So, there can be good & bad of having the latest tools, can't there.
ReplyDeleteI rarely have to teach the students how to use various web2.0 technology however, have found that I had to be more accommodating and spend more time with international students who do not come from the same (cultural) background as the domestic students. I agree that all students need to be taught about web 2.0 technologies especially if the same standard is expected from all students. This I agree is necessary with regards to referencing styles and critical research skills. However this seems a relatively simple and not time consuming task. More time is needed to ensure that the learning needs of international students are meet.
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