E-Learning for the Ne(x)t Generation of Students

In the eLene-TLC project (www.elene-tlc.net), financed by the e-learning programme of the European Commission, the central topic is preparing universities for the ne(x)t generation of students. One of the activities we performed in the project was research amongst first -year students in six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain (Cataluña) and Sweden).

The main research question was: What do first-year students in higher education need and expect from Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their learning process? A sub-issue was: Which tools and pedagogies fit these needs and expectations of first-year students in higher education in Europe? We started to find out how realistic the characteristics of today’s youth as described in the literature were.

The ICT-default mode

By using the term ‘net-generation’, we mean the young people who have been born since 1980 and who have grown up with ICT. They are in a so-called ICT-default mode. In the literature, authors assign the following characteristics to this group:

• Fast and impatient
• Prefer learning by doing
• Social and interactive
• Multi-tasking
• Visually-oriented
• Connected and mobile

Interactive and Multi-Tasking

We put these characteristics into thirteen statements and asked 96 students and 30 teachers to indicate on a five-point scale to what extent they (dis)agreed with the statement (1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree).
Characteristics of nowadays first year students (average of answers)

Statements grouped	Students						Teachers
	ES	FR	GE	IT	NL	S	ES	FR	GE	IT	NL	S
Fast and impatient	2,5	3,4	3,3	3,2	3	3,3	3,6	3,4	2,9	3,4	3,5	2,7
Learning by doing	1,7	0,7	2,8	2,7	2,8	2,8	2,8	3,4	3	3,5	3,4	3,4
Result oriented	3,6	2,7	3,4	4,4	4,1	3,3	4	4,2	3,5	4,3	4	3,4
Social & interactive	4	4,4	3,5	4,6	4,3	4,1	3,7	3,4	3,7	3,9	4,3	3,7
Simultaneous activities	3,7	4	3,7	3,1	4,1	4,4	3,6	3,3	3,5	3,8	4,2	3,8
Visually	3,2	3,2	2,2	2	2,9	2,8	3,9	3,4	3,4	3,2	3	3,9
Connected & mobile	2,4	4,1	3,8	2,5	4,3	3,6	3,7	3,5	3,4	4	3,7	3,5

 
Most students indicated that ‘being social and interactive’ is an important characteristic. Teachers in Germany and the Netherlands indicated that nowadays students are ‘social and interactive’. Teachers from three other countries ranked ‘result oriented’ as being the most important characteristic. To a certain extent, students and teachers also agreed that students are multi-tasking: they perform simultaneous activities and are connected and mobile. Interestingly, we did not find evidence that they prefer ‘learning by doing’ and students ‘visual orientation’, which is often ascribed to the youth.

What it Implies for Teaching and Learning

Based on the results of the research, we formulated implications for the teaching and learning process. What teaching and learning methods fit the ne(x)t generation of students best? The conclusion that being social and interactive is an important characteristic of the ne(x)t generation of students fits the social constructivist, active and authentic-learning theories. Concrete examples are integrating collaborative activities and peer feedback into the learning process. An even more concrete example is students working in teams on authentic tasks. This can be facilitated by, for example, virtual learning environments, a wiki or blog and videoconferencing. By introducing peer feedback in the learning process, students are challenged to have a look at the material of others from a different and constructive perspective.

The first-year students in higher education that were involved in our research expect that:

• ICT is up-to-date
• their university doesn't need to be a front runner
• there is Wifi on the campus
• they have fast communication with their teachers by email
• there is a virtual learning environment available
• Web lectures are offered (as a service)

Quality Counts

In general students mentioned that all ICT tools can be used in the teaching and learning process as long as they are used in a proper way. In some countries, students mentioned that they don't like to see the mobile phone used as a tool in the learning process. This is interesting since it is the tool they use most often in their lives. This tool is meant for private purposes and therefore they do not prefer to use it in education. In other countries students indicate that MSN (too much distraction) or games (are for fun) should not be used. Interestingly, the majority of the students indicated that quality of information is the most important characteristic. This is consistent with the emphasis we see in Europe on information literacy.

In conclusion, we think universities are to a certain extent prepared to meet the needs of the ne(x)t generation of students. Most of them have at least one virtual learning and collaboration environment to facilitate the teaching and learning process. There is also a current trend to use SaaS ‘software as a service’ instead of ‘software as a product’. But it depends on the university’s vision on education whether or not these pedagogical approaches fit.

Link:

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7035.pdf

• Vidéoscop-Université Nancy 2 (FR) - Coordinator
• Université Paris-Dauphine (FR)
• Politecnico di Milano - METID (IT)
• University of Bremen (DE)
• Universitat Oberta de Catalunya – UOC
• Helsinki University of Technology for FVU (FI)
• University of Umeå (SE)
• Utrecht University (NL) 
• Polish Virtual University (PL)

See www.elene-tlc.net for more information about the project. Here you can also subscribe to the eLene-TLC newsletter.

eLene TLC project partners:

Dr Ineke Lam and Magda Ritzen will present on Friday, December 5th, 14:15 – 16:00, in the session Getting Ready for Generation Y.

August 27, 2008

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