21st+Century+Learner

= Introducing the 21st Century Learner = Today’s students are technology-savvy, feel strongly about the positive value of technology, and rely upon technology as an essential and preferred component of every aspect of their lives. These learners require a significant, immediate shift in teaching methodology.

The following excerpt was taken from **Student Engagement: What do we know and what should we do?** Written by Jim Parsons and Leah Taylor of the University of Alberta

**The Students have changed: Millenials, Net Geners, and High Tech Innovators?**
Authors and researchers throughout the literature consistently expressed a belief that young people today are “different!” Contrary to some critics of today’s youth and their culture, different does not mean lazy, illiterate, unmotivated, or otherwise incapable of learning, it just means they have different preferences for how (and what) they learn (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005). Students today are quickly bored with text and lecture methods because of their “immersion in technology” and the exciting interaction, engaging visuals, and instant gratification of the multimedia tools they use everyday to communicate, entertain themselves, make plans, and answer questions when they are not in a classroom (Brown, 2000; Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005).

They are interested in education; they are willing to learn; they are highly capable of learning; and they are ready to learn (if not impatiently so). But unlike any cohort of students before them, they clearly and confidently want to learn on their own terms. The pedagogy and technologies of the past are not engaging today’s students because these students are “miles ahead of us” before we even begin.

Today’s students fearlessly try new technologies and new methods. They are keen and quick to figure things out. Whereas most adults are reticent to try anything new unless they know a lot about it, today’s youth are the opposite – they are highly motivated and “action oriented” (Brown, 2000, p. 15) when it comes to solving problems using technology. There are endless examples of how students as young as five years of age will troubleshoot anything from a cell phone to a complex sound system, and often figure it out in minutes without manuals or tutorials or experts to guide them.

**Students want to be engaged in learning, but on their own terms**
Learners respond favorably to high expectations – and their expectations of teachers are equally high. Examples from the literature suggest that students seem to increasingly take their own learning into their own hands. They take the initiative to find a better means to learn a topic if the current teacher, text, or lesson is not working for them. They seek their own answers online, in the community, and among their “networks;” they don’t take “authority’s” word for it – instead striking out to find or create answers on their own. In so many ways, they have become the critical thinkers we hoped to teach them to be.

This independent learning style is exemplified in a story shared by a teacher. “In an elementary school classroom, during a lesson on Australia, one of the children asked, “What do kangaroos eat?” The teacher, admitting that she did not know and assuring her students that she would get back to them later with an answer, was met with one student getting up from his seat and offering to find the answer online, ‘real quick’”. He was motivated, curious, and was not waiting for an authority to provide an answer when he knew he could find the answer on the Net, “real quick.”

With this learning style, these students need expert instruction because “the average student has no clue how to navigate or investigate the modern library. Instead, students increasingly rely on Web sites and Internet archives for information – increasing the likelihood that they will stumble across and cite false or incorrect information”. Students need to learn how to critically analyze the sources and quality of their “Google TM and “Wiki TM answers. Brown also speaks about the critical need for the “new literacy” of information navigation:

The new literacy, beyond text and image, is one of information navigation. The real literacy of tomorrow entails the ability to be your own personal reference librarian – to know how to navigate through confusing, complex information spaces and feel comfortable doing so. Navigation may well be the main form of literacy for the 21st century.

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Carlson (2005) writes about a librarian who has studied young people to better understand their learning preferences. He illustrates through sharing the findings of “Mr. Sweeney,”:

␣ They have no brand loyalty. They “accept as their right” the ability to make choices and customize. ␣ They are more educated than their parents and expect to make more money. Many will change majors in school and expect to change jobs and careers. ␣ They like portability and are frustrated by technology that tethers them to a specific location. Playing with gizmos and digital technology is second nature. ␣ They don’t read as much as previous generations did, preferring video, audio, and interactive media. ␣ They multitask and are likely to mix work and play, playing a game or chatting while they are doing an assignment. ␣ They were pushed to collaboration, which explains the popularity of group study. Their collaboration is both in-person and virtual. ␣ They want to learn, but they want to learn only what they have to learn and they want to learn it in a style that works for them. ␣ Often they prefer to learn by doing. ␣ The Millennials, or “digital natives” feel hemmed in by an educational system that continually looks to history, that does not take young people seriously, and that squelches creativity, a key characteristic of Millennials (Carlson, 2005, pp 3- 4).

Source: Carlson, S. (2005). The Net Generation goes to college. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Section: Information Technology, 52(7), A34.