Long Tail Learning - Size and Shape : eLearning Technology

Long Tail Learning - Size and Shape : eLearning Technology

Are we doing our students a disservice

This week has been one of frustration for my teaching. I have three classes, all of which are using technology. I am finding that my students post and expect immediate response. This can be very demanding, as I have a family, snow days, my dissertation, and other outside pressures to contend with. I feel that my immediate response to them is training them to expect immediate responses.

Our Students Expectations

I believe that this is a generational problem that perhaps in 20 years will not be as important. Our current students are used to IMing, not having to wait for information. If they do not get the response they want, they simply move on to the next thing. Many of my generation (late babyboomers) look at this as impatience and rudeness. However, for those that have grown up using technology, this is a normal way to communicate.

So how do we prepare them for the intergenerational workforce? By accommodating to their form of communication, are we adequately preparing them for life after school? And will they be able to conform and learn how to fit into the communication styles of the generation to follow them?

Teaching them to be Life Long Learners

Related to this is a problem I saw when reviewing the course feedback. In comments about my course, students complained about having to do readings, projects, and even coming to class. Many of them perceive education as a means to find out information that they then will need to have to pass a test. They have very little understanding (or patience) in learning how to learn. They do not see this as necessary. I think they feel that if they have a set of facts and figures for a specific profession, this is all the learning they will need for the rest of their life.

So how do we prepare them for the rigors that the new organization will require? Is this why there is a perception that our students are ill-equipped as they enter the business world? By allowing them to fill out simple course and instructor evaluations in which they identify their preferences, are we really finding out how effective an instructor or course was in preparing them for their chosen profession? Or is this a tool that can be used not to evaluate the instructor, but rather to determine the need gap between student expectations and instructor delivery? And how do we close that gap, once we have identified it? And what about the larger gap between what a student wants and what employers expect?

Framework to analyze the impact of new ICT

Over the next few weeks, I am going to try to develop some framework that can be used in education to analyze the impact of New ICT on curriculum and student skill sets with the ultimate goal of creating a framework to analyze the impact of ICT on multiple parts of society (businesses, the economy, politics).

I am starting on education because that is where I am working, and I can observe what is happening within my classes.

The Framework

I have already identified four categories into which ICT's can be broken down: for use to communicate, as a repository and tool for sharing and distributing information, for collaboration, and to develop networks and systems (creating communities and interdependent relationships, both long term and short term).

I am still working at what the attributes should be for the analysis. Definitely, I should include the new skills users will need to know to use new technologies in each of these categories. There will also need to be some way to analyze the impact of the new technologies on larger educational resources and policy.

Finally, a list of affordances, problems (security, needs gaps, social) and opportunities should be identified.

Check out the Technology Directory

As part of my class's project, my students are creating a directory of new communication technologies, analyzing and evaluating them for use by organizations. Included in the analysis is a rating of the technology and how they might impact an organization.

One of the surprising technologies identified was Craig's list. I know of people (especially the younger generation) that use this. However, I never thought of it as an organizational communication technology.

Welcome to my New Home

I trouble with the RSS feed on my old blog. So I have decided to move to blogspot. Hopefully this will ensure a steadier feed for those that might be interested. If you are interested in my previous posts you can access them through the link above.

I hope that this address allows for more people to post comments in order to create a greater dialogue. I also would sort of like more than 4 regular readers per week. Ultimately, however, I will be using this blog to help my own understanding of the issues I come across in my research, teaching, and discussions with students and colleagues.