Reference - Generation of Learners 1

In this post, I will store some of the articles that I found through my investigation of information regarding the Generation of Learners assignment.

• Romero, M., Guitert M., Bullen, M., & Morgan, T. (?) bring an interesting perspective to the notion of differences among the various generations of learners. They cite several studies (Kennedy et al., 2008; Bennett et al, 2008; Guo et al, 2008; Selwyn, 2009; Bullen et al, 2011) that indicate scientific evidence or statistics are seldom used when discussing the characteristics of the Net Generation.  Moreover, Romera and Guitert point out, "it is clear that many studies fail to find evidence to support claims that young students use digital technologies in a radically different manner or have a significantly different set of characteristics" (Margaryan & Littlejohn, 2008 p.4). The article by Romero & Guitert cites other studies and reference that point out the use of technology in education does not mean students in high school or community colleges have a greater knowledge, but rather exposure to computer information systems was found to have little significant impact on student computer literacy.

• In my experience in the workplace, I have seen so-called "older learners" or those from traditionalist or baby boomer generations appear to feel as confident in the use of information and communication technology as those younger learners.  For some learners the differences between the generations appeared far less than anticipated, which calls into questions for assumptions regarding such differences for instructional design.

One of the interesting topics that I encountered when researching the effect of generations on use of technology was the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digital literacy in online learning.  I am very interested in finding out much more about this topic as it seems at first glance that promoting the effective use of ICT and enhancing digital literacy is a critical component for efficient use of online resources and eLearning.
Several initial resources sites for this topic are:

• P21 Partnership for 21st Century Learning - List of Resources for Educators 
• Building Your Roadmap for 21st Century Learning Environments - A Planning Tool for Education Leaders
• Maximizing the Impact: The pivotal role of technology in a 21st century education system

References:
Bennett, S.; Maton, K. & Kervin, L. (2008). The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology 39 (5), (pp. 775-786)

Bullen, M.; Morgan, T. & Qayyum, A. (2011). Digital learners in higher education: Generation is not the issue. Canadian Journal of Learning Technology, 37(1)

Guo, R.; Dobson, T. & Petrina, P. (2008). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: An Analysis of Age and ICT Competency in Teacher Education. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 38 (3), (pp. 235-254

Kennedy, G.; Judd, T.S.; Churchward, A.; Gray, K. & Krause, K. (2008). First year Students’ experiences with technology: Are they really digital natives. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(1), (pp. 108-122)

Margaryan, A. & Littlejohn, A. (2008). Are digital natives a myth or reality?: Students’ use of technologies for learning. Unpublished paper.

Romero, M., Guitert M., Bullen, M., & Morgan, T. (?). Learning in Digital: An Approach to Digital Learners in the UOC Scenario. Retrieved from http://www.eurodl.org/materials/special/2011/Romero_Bullen_Morgan.htm.

Selwyn, N. (2009). The digital native: myth and reality. ASLIB proceedings: new information perspectives, 61, (4), (pp. 364-379)