The natives are restless

Higher education and the culture of digital natives

Susanne Koch, Gunnar Schei and Inger Carin Grøndal

Educational Technology Group

University of Oslo

http://www.usit.uio.no/suf/dml/Foto: Ilpo's Sojourn (flickr)

Agenda

• Who are we?

• Traditional and competing views on education

• Our view: Teachers and students cooperating

Educational Technology Group

• Permanent unit within the central university IT-center.

• Mission: To actively contribute to processes of pedagogical innovation by providing technological solutions integrated in teaching and learning.

• Coordination of central IT efforts in the area of ICT-supported teaching and learning.

Old school: Teacher-centered education

• The teachers own the truth

• Teaching means transfering knowledge to the students

• Learning is what gets into the students’ heads

New school:Student-centered education

• The students know the truth

• Teaching means facilitating for learning

• Learning means constructing knowledge

• Students are assumed to be digital

natives

• Teachers are assumed to be digital immigrants

”Our school”

• Teachers have knowledge and digital competence

• Internet makes knowledge available to all, including students

• Students know some use of the available tools

• Together they can explore how they can use the information and tools available to learn and to construct common knowledge

Foto: Talent (flickr)

Digital immigrants but not digital ignorant

• 76 per cent of Norwegians between 36 and 44 are online daily

• Many of them have been digital since before the digital natives were born

• Many of them are teachers

• Digital natives with digital learning strategies (25 per cent)

• Google generation using digital tools just for fun (50 per cent)

• 25 per cent do not use

the internet every day

Digital natives but not digital experts

Foto: merfam (flickr)

New technologies, new cooperative strategies

• Digital tools (i.e. blogs, wikis, Twitter etc.)– Students and teachers collaborate in the choice of tools

– All tools are not automaticaly appropriate for learning

• Digital content– Students and teachers collaborate in constructing knowledge based

on the information availabel

– What is good information?

– What turns information into knowledge?

– How do you qoute?

– How do you mash and re-create?

This creates digital literacy and information competence

Conclusion• The teaching strategy must consider the students’

digital competency and learning strategies

• Digital tools change learning cultures and learning spaces

• Digital tools expand our pedagogical tool box

• Students know the tools, teachers know pedagogy, and together we can find out how to use the digital tools in teaching and learning

Thank you!

We would like you to talk to us!

Send us an email: dml-gruppen@usit.uio.no

http://www.usit.uio.no/suf/dml/

… or the old-fashioned way…

Susanne Knut Inger