The new generation of incoming college students come complete with new technological skills and, seemingly, new expectations for learning. Yet how different are these students from the ones educators have encountered in the past? Under the auspices of Northern Arizona University's e-Learning Center, Paula Garcia and Jingjing Qin investigated the differences between older students and younger students in terms of the key attributes of the online learner: technological abilities, learning beliefs, and learner responsibility beliefs. While their investigation showed that there were significant differences in perceived technological abilities between the Net Generation student and older students, students in all age groups ascribed to traditional beliefs about effective pedagogical practices. Garcia and Qin suggest that bridging the gap between online and traditional methodologies can only further the work that can be achieved in the classroom.

Read More..