Clio Wired (History 696)

As Meagan said in her post and you mentioned in your article, the accessibility issue has greatly influenced the learning and teaching of history. Sources that would have been expensive to provide are now available and that availability is one click away. This is so crucial. Not because this new generation of scholars are lazy (though, that is debatable) but because they are different and their expectations are different. They, the Millennials* (as some call this generation), grew up with the internet, grew up with instant access whether it be via email, text messaging or hyperlinked pages. They are not only used to multitasking, the key word for them is simultaneity (text messaging several friends while surfing the web). The accessibility afforded by the digital medium allows for us as teachers to use that already developed skill to aid in the learning of history.

Another point that echoed throughout our discussion is that technology is not the end; but a means to the end. This holds true not just for PowerPoint but for other mediums as well. There are great and maybe untold possibilities for teaching and learning of history through this medium. I’m convinced of it. I saw it as a high school history teacher. I had students that were more engaged, that had more thoughtful questions that were better able to provide historical context for their musings, and that initiated independent queries not because I and others on my teaching team simply sent them to the internet but because we used the digital media in a thoughtful way. I am excited about what can happen if more collaborative learning is introduced and more legitimately useful ways of digital media is used.

*Further reading on the Millenial Genertation:

• Educating the Net Generation
  
  Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger, Editors
  
  EDUCAUSE; Published: February 2005; HTML and PDF formats

  
  

• John Seely Brown, "Growing Up Digital," Change, vol. 32, no. 2 (March/April 2000), pp. 10–11.

• Jason Frand, "The Information-Age Mindset: Changes in Students and Implications for Higher Education," EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 35, no. 5 (September/October 2000), pp. 15–24.

• Diana Oblinger, "Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials: Understanding the 'New Students,'" EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 38, no. 4 (July/August 2003).

• Video of UCF students describing how they view technology and their learning preferences

• Millennial Rising

• The Key to Competitiveness: Understanding the Next Generation Learner

• Wendy Rickard and Diana Oblinger, The Next-Generation Student, Higher Education Leaders Symposium, Redmond, Washington, June 17–18, 2003.

• The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap between Internet Savvy Students and their schools.

• The Next Generation of Educational Engagement