Conference paper
The future may have arrived, but engagement with icts is not equal among our diverse "net gen" learners
Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, ASCILITE 2010, pp.1107-1118
Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 27th (Sydney, Australia, 05-Dec-2010–08-Dec-2010)
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education
2010
Abstract
William Gibson (1999) once suggested that "The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet". This paper explores the diversity of student experiences in the use of current and emerging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and challenges the popular rhetoric, which claims that "net generation" learners entering university are already equipped with skill in the use of a wide range of Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, social networking, blogging, podcasts and 3D gaming. While much has been written about the benefits of these technologies for facilitating learner engagement in activities that foster life long learning skills, much less is known about the diversity of experiences that students have in using such technologies. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted at the University of South Australia (UniSA), which involved surveying undergraduate and graduate students to gain greater insight into students" experiences and engagement using a range of ICTs. Consistent with the findings of Kennedy et al (2007, 2009), our results suggest that that there is much greater diversity in student experiences using these technologies than previously assumed. The findings challenge the assumption that so called "net gen" students are a homogenous group entering universities with pre-existing skills in the use of ICTs and raise important considerations for academics as they adapt their curricula and approaches using current and emerging technologies to engage a student population increasingly diverse in ICT skills.
Details
- Title
- The future may have arrived, but engagement with icts is not equal among our diverse "net gen" learners
- Authors
- Denise Wood (Author) - University of South AustraliaA Barnes (Author)R Vivian (Author) - University of South AustraliaS Scutter (Author) - University of South AustraliaF Stokes-Thompson (Author) - University of South Australia
- Publication details
- Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, ASCILITE 2010, pp.1107-1118
- Conference details
- Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 27th (Sydney, Australia, 05-Dec-2010–08-Dec-2010)
- Publisher
- Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education
- Date published
- 2010
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2010 Denise Wood, Alan Barnes, Rebecca Vivian, Sheila Scutter & Frederick Stokes-Thompson. Reproduced here with kind permission of the author. The author(s) assign to ascilite and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The author(s) also grant a non-exclusive licence to ascilite to publish this document on the ascilite web site and in other formats for Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010. Any other use is prohibited without the express permission of the author(s).
- Organisation Unit
- Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students)
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99513898102621
- Output Type
- Conference paper
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