Engaging your “Digital Native” Learner: Strategies for Educators
Jan 20, 2016
Engaging your “Digital Native”
Learner:
Strategies for Educators
Your team of immigrant workshop leaders:
• Michelle Lin
• Brad Monash
• Gail Persily
• Sandrijn van Schaik
• Evans Whitaker
Ice Breakers
• What do you think when you hear the term “millennial learner”?
and/or
• What would you like to learn from this workshop?
http://bit.ly/ZoZWtZ
Objectives
• Describe how the millennial generation approaches learning.
• Employ technologies and other strategies to engage learners
• Generate ideas for tech-based approaches to stimulate ongoing learning & information sharing
Workshop outline
• What’s the problem?
o The issues, terminology and (some) data
• What strategies exist?
o Overview and exercises
Why should you care?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=player_detailpage
Digital Native
• Born after 1980
• First generation to grow up with current technology
• Native speakers of the language of computers, video games, cell phones
Before entering college
• > 250,000 emails
• >10,000 hours talking on cell phones
• >10,000 hours of playing video games
• >20,000 hours watching TV
Millenials
Some Debate
Millennials/digital natives have different learning styles and preferences; therefore require a different approach to education
“Academic form of moral panic” - many
generalizations and no data to suggest that academic outcomes
suffer with current approaches
But (limited) data does suggest....
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Understanding+Digital+Children+-+Ian+Jukes
http://tinyurl.com/c9vbqa4
Millennial quizzees
Strategies to Engage our Learners
• Avoid “death by PowerPoint”• Attract attention with audience
response systems
• Hijack social media to extend the conversation
• Construct knowledge with shared documents
Twitter:The Digital Watercooler
• Listen to discussions
• Explore suggested resources (websites, Pubmed links)
• Share your own insights
Twitter:Get an account
A Twitter conversation:
NG tubes and upper GI bleed
Twitter: Tips for success1. Create an account.
2. Post only work-related content.
3. Avoid info overload: Follow only 5 people.
4. Build daily habit of checking Twitter feed.
5. Engagement: After lurking for at least 1 week, respond to a tweet.
6. Organically grow your Twitter network.
Audience Response Systems (ARS) – Why?
• Engaging
• Interaction• In-class checks
• Comprehension
• Assessments – needs, formative, and summative
ARS – Why not?
• Distracting
• Learning curve
• More technology to fail
• Can be over-used
ARS – How?
ARS Tips
• Tipso Pedagogy first!o Plan ahead
• Test • Redundancy• Have a back-up plan
o < 3-4 questions/houro Allow 1-2 minutes for each questiono Be creative (e.g., game style)