Transcript Net Gen Students: Learning, Technology and Libraries Joan K. Lippincott, Coalition for Networked Information JISC/CNI Conference July 7, 2006

Net Gen Students:
Learning, Technology and Libraries
Joan K. Lippincott, Coalition for Networked Information
JISC/CNI Conference July 7, 2006
Net Gen Students
Born 1982-1991
Grew up with computers and other
media at home and in school from
earliest ages
Never were tethered to communication
in a place
Other Names…
Millennials
Digital Natives
Gen Y
Gen Next
DotNets (Pew Internet & American Life)
Characteristics of Net Gen
Students
Always connected, multi-tasking
Oriented to working in groups
Experiential learners
Visual
Producers as well as consumers
Pew Internet & American Life
Students are disproportionately likely to
be (Internet) content creators
Content Creation Online, 2004
How They Engage with Learning
James Hilton, writing about his son’s Leonardo da Vinci project:
As we worked together (on a Powerpoint), the thing that surprised me
was how deeply he connected with the project. He asked enthusiastically:
“How can I find another picture? How can I say something
more here?”…He connected with Leo in ways that had not happened
before and in ways that too rarely happen in the college classes I teach.
I am simply not finding ways to take advantage of “rip, mix, and burn,”
Nor are we in higher education embracing the potential for unbundling
the ways we thing about scholarship - not just for student assignments
but for all kinds of scholarship.”
EDUCAUSE Review March/April 2006
Producers of Information for the
Global Community
“Blogging is an opportunity to exchange
our points of view with the rest of the
world, not just people in our immediate
environment.”
5th grade Quebec student quoted by Downes, EDUCAUSE Review
2004
Net Gen and Traditional Learning
Net Gen Students
Multi-media
Figure it out
Work in groups
Multi-task
Traditional Learning & Libraries
Text-based
Learn from experts
Individually based
Logical, linear
It’s About More than Style…
It’s about learning
New Relationships
Academic/Social
Virtual/Physical
Learners/Teachers/Librarians
Blending In-person and Virtual
"Social networking sites like The Facebook are quickly
blurring the line between online and real-world
interactions. While most adults still separate their virtual
existence from their real-world lives, college kids are
increasingly living in both worlds at once.”
Erika Lewis, Carleton College student
from her Podcast script for a class "We Media:
The Personal Media Revolution”
http://www.people.carleton.edu/~lewiser/PodcastScript.htm
New Ways of Thinking about
Teachers and Learners
“We strive to stay ahead of the technology
curve in ways that often exhaust older
generations. This drive to keep pace
with current trends is not fueled by society’s
ability to educate and teach these
technologies. Instead, we are a generation of
learners by exploration.”
Carrie Windham, student, Educating the Net Gen
Implications for Resources and
Services
Preparing students to become
information producers
Service styles
New spaces
Preparing students to become
information producers
New modes of scholarly communication
New research tools
U. Virginia Valley of the Shadow
Cold War Timeline at
Santa Clara University
Article in Vectors
http://vectors.iml.annenberg.edu/
USC Student Project
NCSA Evolution Highway Genome Project
Data for Visualization
GMU History Tools
iSpecies.org
(R.Page, U. Glasgow)
New service styles
Social networking
Personalization
Education - new emphases
New forms of service delivery
Facilitating new communities
“Since we know that students are spending more time in
social networking environments like MySpace and Facebook,
building complex communities and sharing musings and
opinions on everything…lets form a partnership with one of
those companies to build a networking space focusing on
the information needs of students. Such a site could enable
dialogue and collaboration among its users, discussion of
readings, and creation of multimedia class projects.”
Kate Wittenberg, CHE, June 16, 2006
UIUC Undergrad Library
Facebook
Brooklyn College Library
MySpace
PennTags Social Bookmarking
Who is teaching your students
about:
Statistical analysis software
GIS software
Multi-media software
Visualization
Use of digital libraries
Use of large scientific data sets
Information standards and preservation
Policy issues related to information and technology
Educating Students about
Information
New Service Styles
New ways of accessing information
Student-oriented services
Blending virtual and physical services
Visual representations of information
U. Minnesota Undergrad Page
UPenn Business FAQ
bioLIBlog and Biology Night at
the Library at U. Tennessee
New spaces
Information commons
Multi-media studios
Group areas
Informal spaces and cafes
Libraries that fit student lifestyles
Thinking of your information needs and
lifestyle, which fits perfectly with your
lifestyle?
64% Search engines
30% Online library
24% Library
From OCLC College Students’ Perceptions of
Libraries and Information Resources
Learning Grid: U. Warwick
Dartmouth Library
Vassar Media Cloisters
Georgia Tech
Practice Presentation Room
Glasgow Caledonian University
U. Georgia Student Learning
Center
Indiana U. Information Commons
Accomplishing change
Hiring/training new types of staff
“Reverse mentoring”
Working in teams with students
Experimenting, piloting
Adopting, adapting
Doing research, assessment
Letting go…
Understanding Today’s Students
“For as I read through article after article on
the topic of academic librarianship, the
prominent message is that today’s college
students are lazy, procrastinating, plagiarizing
patrons of the glut of information that has
come to be known as the Internet.”
Christen Thompson, portal, 2003
Or….Should We Shift Gears
The Net Gen Are Our Future
Assist students with making the
transition from the recreational use of
technology to academic use of
technology
Provide environments, physical and
virtual, which engage students
Promote creativity in students’ disciplinerelated work
Further Information…
Contact Joan Lippincott: [email protected]
“Net Generation Students and Libraries,”
Educating the Net Gen, an EDUCAUSE eBook, 2005. www.educause.edu/eli
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666&ID=pub7101