Big Question: Learning Design for Digital Natives? Bugwash!
This month’s Learning Circuit’s Blog Big Question of the Month is: Do we design learning different for digital natives? My short answer is no, but let me elaborate, as I’ve gone off on this in various places but not here (as far as I can see), and I think there’s something importantly wrong going on here
Let’s start with the hypothesis: that these digital ‘natives’ are fundamentally different than us – they’re immersed in a digital world, are better multi-taskers, and need more immersive and engaging learning environments.
My take is a twist on this. The old ways of learning are wrong for everyone; the instructivist model of tell & test doesn’t work for the new generation any more than it did for the old one! It was designed for industrial efficiency in delivery, and wasn’t worried about effectiveness as it was really a filter to higher-learning for those who *could* learn in this way.
So we do need to do new learning design, immersive and engaging, but for everyone, as it brings in the elements we’ve lost. We used to have apprenticeships, and we’ve gone away from this. We need to get back to contextualized task performance with learning layered on, for everyone! No wasted time, no dull and plodding content push, but instead meaningful action and appropriate information nuggets.
Look, the differences in this new generation are more attitudinal than mental skill set. Ask any mother about multi-tasking! It’s not about catering to them, it’s about the best learning for everyone.
Hi Clark – Agreed. We need to create learning experiences that are engaging, immersive (dare I say even fun?!?)
for everyone regardless of the particular generation they were born into.
Yet your original hypothesis is incorrect.
Digital natives aren’t necessarily better at what you cited. Of course digital immigrants (indeed everyone) can
and does multitask and use technology. It’s just that DN’s generally don’t have any other experiences
besides multi-tasking. Their vision of how things work is colored by that. Likewise with the ubiquity of
technology. Of course Boomers and GenX’ers use technology (heck, we invented much of it!). The DN’s, however,
have no memory of anything else in their lives.
The consideration, then, is how to deliver the engaging and immersive learning to a group that has the
expectations that Digital Natives do … I would posit that with respect to the delivery of learning, there
are differences between generations.
Comment by Rory — 3 May 2008 @ 1:46 am
Hi Clark! I whole-heartedly agree. Everyone wants to be engaged and interested in what they’re learning…. regardless of their age. I answered the big question for May in a similar (yet less eloquent) way. Let’s just design better learning for everyone… not just GenY!
Comment by Kerry McGuire — 5 May 2008 @ 9:00 am
Absolutely agree Clark. The old (existing, dominant) model was good for managing instruction & instructional logistics, but
maybe not so much for maximizing learning in terms of acquiring knowledge, skills or even in depth awareness. Those models
made some sense when we didn’t have tools & technologies to do much else. We also haven’t, until recently, had a learner
population comfortable with leveraging the tools & tech and capable of doing so. But, that’s changing fairly rapidly. I for
one am glad to see this fundamental convergence of tools and attitudes taking place. And, it’s not just converging among
digital natives. Many of us immigrants are ready to converge. Too bad it wasn’t as possible 30 years ago.
Comment by Steve Churchill — 30 May 2008 @ 12:56 pm