In a video game you being with no idea of how to play. You know how to use the controller, but level by level you learn new rules and button combinations that are useful in new and different situations presented to you in a logical way that leads you to quickly master a game. It all happens very quickly. Within two hours of playing a game you can become familiar with it and the more familiar you are with it, the more you enjoy it.
My problem is then with applying this video game mentality to real life. Net Gen students raised on technology can accelerate through many of the normal road blocks of education, and can learn the software needed to solve a problem more efficiently than those who are teaching. But the students need the problems laid out like a video game. Setting little goals along the way to gain minor skills until a point is reached where the student is comfortable with the game and can explore the harder levels.
I don't believe that there is true creativity within the gaming world. The creativity is in the side dishes served with the video game, but not contained within it. You can choose your name, you can choose who you play with, what you play and when you play. But once you are playing you are governed by a long list of rules that does not allow for much room to create. This is my problem with linking it to school, academia, research, or learning. Net Gen learners within the modern constraints are not allowed the room to explore and apply understanding to problems in their neighborhood, state, or country. Without this understanding of how actions change surroundings, everything becomes theoretical and one sided.
The net gen learners have always been catered to and are used to being told what to do, how to do it, why to do it, and when it needs to be done. What happens when the directives are not so clearly laid out?
Real life and flailing is what happens. But then you learn to define doable small tasks and re-assess as you go whether your progress is getting you closer to the ultimate goal.
ReplyDeleteThis transition happens all the time in our learning. The transition to greater autonomy and responsibility happens in every successive grade and level. For example, nobody told me to sign up for this course. A faculty member was kind enough to send out an email to a list-serve group of which I am a part, that made me aware of the course. It was up to me to assess whether taking Grad 602 would further my goals, coordinate the funding for tuition, and put the effort towards developing a better understanding of what it takes to teach effectively in higher ed. In fact, the person formally mentoring me would rather I was not spending time on this at all since it does not further his goals. Flailing about trying this, reassessing, trying that, seeing what works in the real world, this is life and no one can avoid it for long, not even net gen :)
You do bring up the good point of the importance of making sure a student takes courses that require not just technical proficiency but critical and creative thinking. In these courses the answer is not canned or predetermined like in a video game and the creativity is in coming up with a defense of your position, or a novel argument, analogy, synthesis. I see this as problem that is especially tough for engineers who must spend so much time on technical proficiency and thus may have less time for courses that encourage creative and critical thinking.
Very interesting and compelling observation. Although I'm not a big fan of generational labels (or any kind of labeling) I still think we are forced at times to speak in generalities--as long as we recognize that there are exceptions and that people are rarely the same over time or as they move from place to place.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I often think about in relation to the observations that many of the NetGenners are "catered to" is the learning (and character building) experiences associated with service learning. I remember how many of my peers (and even myself) growing up in the golden era of the 80's (1980's that is : - ) and how community work really helped to ground us in what was important. Now although service learning and community work / volunteering is different, I think that they are similar enough to make the comparison here and that service learning would has an advantage because of the application of the classroom to the field and vice versa is very deliberate and continuous. So as technology continues to evolve / revolve, let's not forget about the human condition and the opportunity for significant learning experiences that our communities afford us--and not just our local communities but our virtual one's as well.