EDTECH 537: Generational Differences vs Learning Styles

This week, we were asked to reflect on a few readings that touched upon a few concepts. In today's society, the younger generation is born into the digital world. At an early age, they are introduced to technology and considered, "native speakers" of the digital language of computers, video games, and the internet. (Prensky, 2001) The rest of us, who were not born into the digital world, are Digital Immigrants. The notion, by Pensky, is that we adapt to our environments but retain some of their "accent", and using the Internet second, to find information. He claims that digital immigrants would print out a document rather than editing it on the computer. These are only some of the claims, that Pensky refers to in the article. 

In Jamie Mckenzie's article, "Digital Nativism Digital Delusions and Digital Deprivation, the author challenges Pensky's notions and unsupported claims. The article makes an argument that children who grow up in a high-tech world can become isolated from their families. Gadgets have made it possible for digital citizens to avoid each other, even while sitting in the same room. (Makenzie, 2007). Mackenzie believes that Pensky's has offered no credible support for his claims and is quick to stereotype generations. The author of this article seems to be concerned that too many educators have adopted Pensky's claims because simple-minded thinking is attractive. (Mackenzie, 2007)

In professor Thomas Reeves article, "Do Generational Differences Matter in Instructional Design?, the author, discusses his findings if generational differences warrant different instructional design methods. The lengthy article first differentiates the generations by birth years but focuses on the Boomer, X, and NetGen. The article does provide substantial references and supporting research to support the various findings. 

The reflection this week asked us to respond to Wheeler's article, "Convenient Untruths", which discuss the topic of learning styles. In his article, he challenges the notion of learning styles and if they are even valid. Can students be placed in specific categories like visual, auditory or kinesthetic?
Findings by Riener and Willingham state, "...learning-styles theory has succeeded in becoming “common knowledge.” Its widespread acceptance serves as an unfortunately compelling reason to believe it. Riener and Willingham (2010). Do we all fit into one of these categories? I sure did believe that I did when I was a student. Naturally, I was told that my knack for all things video made me a visual learner. So, of course, this is how I preferred to learn. At least that's what I assumed. When I first began teaching, I also assumed that students would naturally fit into one of these predefined categories. I never questioned if these claims made sense for every student. 

When I compare Wheeler's post with the rest of the readings about generational differences, I can draw many comparisons. One can make general assumptions about generational differences and the way people learn. But if you put aside all of the research, citations and supporting findings, the answer is, it depends. I believe that there are older "boomers' that are more technologically savvy than NetGen learners. There are also students from economically disadvantaged areas that have forced themselves to be digitally minded, despite their disadvantages. Reiner and Willingham (2010) challenge us to ask, whether we engaged the right sense (or learning mode), we should be asking, what did students think about while they were in class?

I agree wholeheartedly with Wheeler's article and am guilty of forcing students to learn a certain way. I hope to remember that each student is different and they may benefit from different approaches. I hope to do better next time.



References
Prensky, M. (2001, October 5). Digital natives, digital immigrants Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky\%20-\%20Digital\%20Natives,\%20Digital\%20Immigrants\%20-\%20Part1.pdf 
Mckenzie, J. (2007, November) Digital nativism digital delusions and digital deprivation. Retrieved July, from http://fno.org/nov07/nativism.html
REEVES, P. T. C. (2006). DO GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES MATTER IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN, Retrieved from https://paeaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/10c-Gen-Diff-Matter.pdf
Wheeler, S. (2011, November 24) A convenient untruth, Retrieved from http://www.steve-wheeler.co.uk/2011/11/convenient-untruth.html

Comments

  1. You did a great job summarizing the readings for this week in class. It is awesome that you point out that it is important to provide instruction to reach all learners! I think that is most important as well.
    I am curious about one thing...since you grew up thinking you were a visual learner, and that is the skill you utilized, do you still feel drawn to it today? Or...have you accepted that you can learn using all of the "styles" for learning.
    Great post!
    Philomena :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really think I learn best from engaging instruction. If the instruction or instruction is dynamic, I seem to learn better. I am also fine learning from written materials. There are benefits from sitting with an experienced software trainer and having someone to to guide me when I'm learning.

      I hate watching baseball on TV but enjoy listening to the game on the radio. I enjoy reading books but can't stand listening to audio books. It could be possible that my subconscious is fighting the notion of learning styles.

      Years ago, I started taking my masters in Instructional Technology from a University. The classes traditional classes with no online component. I didn't enjoy the classes as much as our BSU classes. Maybe, age is coming into play and affecting the way I learn.

      Delete
  2. I agree with you that it very much depends on each person whether they are tech savvy or not. You can't put a label on someone just because of their age. It's funny that Pensky's article works to categorize people by their age, when society is working hard to move away for labels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe that if we wanted to do research on generation and maintenance of a car, we could provide some date that points in favor of a certain generation. Although I disagree with Pensky's claims, I believe there is some validity to what he is implying. These findings would be great for a discussion panel but not something that educators should use as concrete research.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts