Preparing the Academy of Today for the Learner of Tomorrow

为明日学习者准备好今日的高校

Joel Hartman, Patsy Moskal, and Chuck Dziuban

乔尔·哈特曼，帕齐·莫什卡尔，查克·久班

University of Central Florida

佛罗里达中央大学

Introduction

前言

Predicted to be America's first generation to exceed 100 million persons,¹ the wave of Net Geners entering colleges and universities brings a blend of behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that creates opportunities—as well as challenges—for higher education. Opportunities arise from students' familiarity with technology, multitasking style, optimism, team orientation, diversity, and acceptance of authority. Challenges, on the other hand, include the shallowness of their reading and TV viewing habits, a comparative lack of critical thinking skills, naïve views on intellectual property and the authenticity of information found on the Internet, as well as high expectations combined with low satisfaction levels. Not surprisingly there is an increasing gap between most institutions' IT environments and the technologies the Net Gen uses. These factors lead, in turn, to the greatest challenge for higher education leaders, faculty, and staff—nearly all of whom belong to earlier generations: to understand the Net Generation learner and through this understanding provide the learning environments, services, and facilities needed to help these students achieve their potential.

预计美国网络世代超过一亿人，网络世代进入高校的浪潮，带来了各种行为、态度、期待的混合物，也为高等教育带来了机会——以及挑战。机会来自于学生对技术的熟悉，以及学生的多任务行事风格、乐观、团队导向、多样性、接受权威。另一方面，挑战包括他们的阅读不足和看电视的习惯，比较缺乏批判性思维技能，对待知识产权和网上信息真实性的幼稚看法，而且要求很高却很难伺候。毫不奇怪，在绝大部分教育机构的信息技术环境与网络世代所使用的技术之间存在着巨大鸿沟。反过来，这些因素又导致了对高等教育领导者、教师、员工——几乎所有上一代人——的巨大挑战：理解网络世代学习者，通过理解提供学习环境、服务、帮助学生激发潜能的必要设施。

Most institutions profess intense interest in the academic, social, and personal needs of their students. Yet, generational differences are not often used to gain a better understanding of students' behaviors, attitudes, and expectations. Perhaps this is because generations represent a historical perspective, better illuminating the past than the present or future. Change and adaptation within the academy proceed at a slow, deliberate pace. Adapting institutional processes and services to the needs of a specific generation of students requires advance planning and action; the timeframe for planning and deliberation may exceed the time the learners are enrolled. Planning is complicated because personal characteristics are not homogeneous within generational groupings; for example, individuals born late in the Gen-X cohort may think and behave more like Net Geners, making it difficult to take a standardized approach. Unfortunately, the generational literature fails to predict the characteristics of future generations.

多数教育机构声称对他们学生在学术、社交、个人等方面的需求抱有浓厚兴趣。然而，几代人之间的差别并不能更好的帮助理解学生的行为、态度、期待。也许是因为各代人展示的是历史观点，更适合阐述过去而不是现在和将来。高校改变和适应的步伐缓慢而谨慎。调整体制流程和服务，以适应特殊一代学生的需求，需要提前规划、行动。规划审议的时间表可能会超出学习者的就读时间。规划是复杂的，因为各世代群体的个人特点各不相同，比如，里根世代晚期出生的人，可能在思维和行为上更像网络世代，很难将其按哪个标准划分。不幸的是，世代文化很难预计未来世代的特征。

Institutional leaders need to find ways to think about generations in designing campus and individual student initiatives, as well as to discern trends that will allow future-directed planning.

教育机构领导人需要找到办法，思考规划校园的一代人和个性学生活动，以及以及辨别出引导未来规划走向的潮流。

Generations and Technology

世代与技术

The technologies available as a generation matures influence their behaviors, attitudes, and expectations. People internalize the technologies that shape information access and use, as well as the ways they communicate. Matures (born 1946–1964) were exposed to large vacuum-tube radios, mechanical calculators, 78 rpm records, dial telephones, and party lines. Baby Boomers grew up with transistor radios, mainframe computers, 33⅓ and 45 rpm records, and the touch-tone telephone. Gen-Xers matured in the era of CDs, personal computers, and electronic mail. For the Net Generation, the prevailing technologies are MP3s, cell phones, and PDAs; they communicate via instant messaging, text messaging, and blogs. For each successive generation "technology is only technology if it was invented after they were born."²

可用技术如同成熟一代一样影响他们的行为、态度、期待。人们内化技术，塑造信息的获取及使用方法，以及他们通讯的方式。成熟一代（1946-1964出生）生活在大型真空管收音机、机械计算器、七十八转的唱片、转盘电话、合用线路的世界里。婴儿潮一代成长于晶体管收音机，大型计算机、33⅓和45转唱片、按键式电话的世界里。里根世代成熟于光盘、个人电脑、电子邮件的时代。对于网络世代，流行技术包括MP3、移动电话、PDA。他们通过实时通讯、短信和网络日志进行交流。对于每一个连续的世代，“在他们出生后发明的技术，只是技术，拿来用而已。”

Technology has experienced its own series of generations. In computing, the nexus has shifted from the mainframe to the minicomputer to the personal computer, and now to mobile devices. In line with Moore's Law, computing and communication devices have radically decreased in size and increased in performance. Connectivity has experienced a similar transition across generations, from no connectivity to proprietary device-to-device cabling, to globally interconnected local area networks, and now to wireless. Computers were initially developed as number crunching devices. The early emphasis on processing numbers, then words, has been joined by multimedia: graphics, images, video, sound, and interactive games. Prevalent among today's applications are interpersonal and group communication tools. The use of early computers was batch-processing-oriented and required programming skills and arcane commands. Today's graphical user interfaces and the Web make the operation of computers highly interactive and achievable by nearly anyone. The Internet has led to the kind of global village of information and communication envisioned by Marshall McLuhan.³

技术经历了他自己的若干世代。在计算机领域，联系已经从大型机转移到小型机到个人计算机上，现在已经到了移动设备。计算和通信设备，正按照摩尔定律，尺寸急速缩小，性能大幅增加。人际连通也经历了类似的若干世代的变迁，从无连接到设备直连的专有电缆，到全球范围内的局域网互联，到现在的无线连接。最初开发计算机是用作数字处理设备。早期主要用来处理数字，然后是文字，接下来加进多媒体：图形、图像、视频、声音，以及互动游戏。今天流行的应用程序是人际和团体交流工具。早期使用计算机，需要面向批处理，需要编程技能，掌握神秘的命令行。今天的图形用户界面和网络，使电脑的操作具有高度互动性，几乎任何人都可以实现。互联网已经实现了马歇尔·麦克卢汉关于地球村的信息和通讯预想。

Behaviors of the Net Generation are expressed through technologies to an extent not observed in previous generations. At one level, Net Geners are the beneficiaries of decades of technological development that preceded them; at another level, as students they use these technologies in new ways, and in so doing are redefining the landscape in higher education and perhaps beyond. The behaviors of the Net Gen (multitasking, always-on communication, engagement with multimedia, and the like), as well as the capabilities of modern technologies (personal, multifunctional, wireless, multimedia, communication-centric), are in close harmony. To a great extent, the behaviors of the Net Gen are an enactment of the capabilities afforded by modern digital technologies.

网络世代的行为通过技术来表达，达到了前所未有的程度。在某个层次上，网络世代是在他们之前十年技术发展的受益者；从另一层次上讲，由于学生以新的方式使用这些技术，由此重新定义了高等教育甚至其他领域的前景。网络世代的行为（多任务、永远在线沟通、偏好多媒体，诸如此类），以及现代技术能力（个人为中心、多功能、无线、多媒体、以通讯为中心），正紧密结合。在很大的程度上，网络世代的行为是由现代数码技术提供的能力所设定的。

According to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project,⁴ one in five of today's college students began using computers between the ages of 5 and 8; by the time they were 16 to 18, all of them used computers. Nationwide, nearly 90 percent of college students have gone online, compared with about 60 percent of the general population. Use of the Internet or campus networks is nearly universal in higher education. Eighty-five percent or more of college students own a computer, and nearly all of the rest have ready access to one. Sixty percent of college students regularly play computer or online games, and they are twice as likely to have downloaded music as the general population. The Net Generation students exhibit technology-related behaviors that may be unfamiliar to many in the academy: social networking, photo sharing, swarming, blogging, instant messaging, and text messaging. As continuous multitaskers, the Net Geners are adept at context switching, often engaging in several activities at the same time (in the classroom, this behavior can be disconcerting to instructors). Four out of five students believe that Internet use has had a positive impact on their academic experience, and three out of four say they use the Internet for research more than they do the library.⁵

据皮尤互联网与美国生活项目的报告称，现在大学生五分之一从五到八岁就开始使用计算机。到他们十六到十八岁的时候，全都用过计算机。全国范围内，接近九成大学生上过网，相比之下总人口约有六成上过网。高等教育机构已经几乎普及互联网或校园网。八成五以上的高校学生拥有计算机，余下的几乎都能随时使用计算机。六成高校学生经常玩计算机或网络游戏，他们下载音乐的比例是普通人群的两倍。网络世代学生展示出的技术相关行为，很多都是高校不熟悉的：社交网络、相片共享、快闪、写网志、实时聊天、短信。由于能够持续进行多任务活动，网络世代善于环境转换，往往在同一时间参与多项活动（在教室，这种行为可能会让教师深感不安）。五分之四的学生相信使用互联网对他们的学术体验有着积极影响，四分之三说，他们使用互联网进行研究，多过使用图书馆。

Students are very familiar with the top online commercial sites such as amazon.com and ambercrombie.com; they hold these sites to be the standard against which they judge colleges' online services. And, of all of the generational groups, the Net Generation is least satisfied with their higher education experience.⁶

学生们非常熟悉顶级商业网站，比如amazon.com 和 ambercrombie.com ，他们用这些网站做标准来评价他们的学校在线服务。并且，在各代人当中，网络世代对其高等教育体验的满意度是最低的。

Net Geners have access to affordable multifunctional devices (for example, cell phones equipped with digital cameras and Web browsers that can play digital audio and video recordings, as well as send and receive e-mail and text messages) that readily support their interpersonal communication needs and multitasking behaviors. Between classes, students bustle about with cell phones attached to their ears. Silberman described the prevalence of cell phones among Net Geners in Finland, and how cell phones' voice and short messaging capabilities allow them to move in synchronization "like schools of fish … on currents of whim."⁷ This behavior has since become well established in America, where it is known as social swarming or smart mobs.^{8, 9}

网络世代能够接触到支持多功能的设备（比如，带有数码相机和网页浏览器的手机，还可以播放数码音频和视频文件，以及发送接收电子邮件和短信息），这些设备显而易见地支持他们的人际交流需求和多任务行为。在课间，一边打手机一边奔走【按：不同的课在不同的教室上，要赶去】。西尔伯曼描述了手机在芬兰网络世代当中的流行程度，以及手机语音和短信功能是如何让他们同步行动，“像鱼群一样……随性而动”。这种行为在美国已经被确定下来，被称作“社会快闪”或者“智力暴民”。

Emerging Patterns

新兴模式

The mobility enabled by wireless communication, combined with an expanding class of wireless-equipped portable computers and PDAs, is leading to new instructional and social patterns. No longer do students need to go to a specific place, or even be seated, to use a computer. An array of multifunctional PDAs capable of wireless communication is allowing such devices to follow their users wherever they go, serving as "prosthetics for information, memory, or creativity."¹⁰ This is challenging the very definition of learning spaces because learning can now occur both in and out of the classroom, in both formal and informal settings, and by lone scholars or among groups.

无线通讯带来的人员流动性，加上配备了无线上网的便携式计算机和PDA的扩展课堂，会产生新的教育和社会模式。学生不再需要去指定地点集中，甚至不需要坐下来、打开计算机。一批能够无线通讯的多功能PDA，让用户论身处何处，都可以“弥补信息、记忆、创造力上的不足”。这对如何定义学习场所提出了挑战，因为现在可以发生在教室内外，正式和非正式场所，可以是单独的学习者，也可以是一群人。

Net Gen students not only use technology heavily, they also trust it implicitly. They are as likely to get their news online as from a newspaper and conduct research through Google as visit a library. Their belief that anything accessible online should be free leads many to download or share music, movies, or software they have not purchased. The extent of this activity has surprised many institutions; campus networks often became saturated when students returned to school in the fall. In some cases this is followed by copyright violation notices from organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America.

网络世代学生不仅大量使用技术，而且毫无保留的信任技术。他们更有可能获取在线新闻而不是看报纸，通过谷歌搜索信息而不是去图书馆。他们相信，网上可以接触到的任何东西都应该免费，导致很多人下载、分享音乐、电影、软件而不需要购买。这项活动的规模令许多教育机构惊讶，校园网经常因为学生秋季返校而变得饱和。在某些情况下，这会收到美国唱片业协会等组织的侵犯版权通知。

The interactive and exploratory way the Net Generation uses technology is also a break with the past. The French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss described the process of bricolage—tinkering—through which individuals learn by exploring and manipulating objects around them.¹¹ Turkle¹² and Brown¹³ described how changes in technology and its use have moved from a rigid, top-down environment to a new bottom-up style in which the mode of interaction and learning has shifted from programming and commands to exploration and bricolage. The Net Gen approaches computers and other technologies as environments for communication, socialization, learning, and game playing, not as machines to be programmed.¹⁴

网络世代交互式探索式使用技术，也是和过去决裂。法国人类学家克劳德·列维-斯特劳斯通过描述个体以探索和摆布他们周围的物体的方式进行学习，描述了拼装——拼凑——的过程。特克尔和布朗描述了技术改变以及对技术的使用，是如何从硬性的、自上而下的环境转移到新的、自下而上的环境中的，在后者中的互动和学习模式已经从编程和命令行变成探究和利用现有物品加工。网络世代把计算机和其他技术当成通讯、社交、学习、游戏环境，而不是可编程的机器。

A challenge for campus planners is the increasing gap between the institutional IT environment and the technology environments Net Geners have created for themselves. To be sure, today's students are avid users of Web, e-mail, telephones, and other IT resources; however, their rapid adoption of instant messaging, cell phones, blogs, wikis, social networking Web sites, and other resources that are not generally part of the core campus infrastructure leads to a host of new concerns. There is increased potential for incompatibilities between the technologies adopted by students and campus standards. Other problems such as excess bandwidth consumption, inappropriate use of intellectual property, or security threats are becoming more prevalent. An existing institutional context for the use of these technologies is unlikely, leading to frustration and decreasing satisfaction on the part of both students and faculty.

面对教育机构信息技术环境，与网络世代为其自身创造的技术环境之间，日益加大的鸿沟，成了校园规划者最头疼的问题。可以肯定的是，现在的学生很喜欢使用网页、电子邮件、电话和其他信息技术资源。然而，他们广泛使用的实时聊天、手机、网志、维基、社交网站以及其他资源，还没有成为校园基础设施的核心部分当前最关注的东西。以及学生所用技术与校园标准之间日益加大的不兼容性。其它问题，如超额消耗带宽、不当使用知识产权、安全威胁，正变得越来越普遍。要使用这些技术，现有的教育机构环境是不行的，会同时导致学生和教师两方面的挫败感，降低双方的满意度。

Although it may be desirable in some instances, it is not necessary that institutions rush to become providers of instant messaging, blogs, wikis, computer games, social networking sites, or any of the array of students' favorite technologies. The real opportunity lies in observing and talking to today's students to learn more about how they conceptualize and use these new tools. With this knowledge institutions can create contexts for technology use that enhance learning, improve student services, and enrich students' social lives.

虽然可用于某些情况，但教育机构没有必要急于提供实时聊天、网志、维基、计算机游戏、社交网站以及学生喜爱的其他一系列技术。真正的机会在于观察、倾听现今学生，了解到更多他们如何认知和使用这些新工具。有了这些信息，教育机构才能为使用技术创造环境，从而增强学习，改进学生服务，丰富学生的社会生活。

Assessing the Generations in Online Learning

评估在线学习各世代

The Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) regularly conducts formative and summative surveys of students' online learning experiences. These data become transformative because they are instrumental in modifying the organization, structure, and processes of our distributed learning initiative. We believe that both qualitative and quantitative research yield a more valid assessment of students in the online learning environment. When we ask respondents to complete objective statements followed by a reflective narrative, we obtain a more authentic characterization of their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. In the latest survey conducted at UCF, students used a series of 5-point Likert-scale questions to evaluate their online learning experience around two components previously identified through extensive numerical work.¹⁵ The first domain—learning engagement—encompassed six items where students indicated their:

佛罗里达中央大学（UCF）教学效力研究计划（RITE）定期针对学生爱现学习体验，举行形成性的、终结性的调查。这些数据不断变化，是因为他们在修改我们的分布式学习倡议的组织、结构、过程当中，发挥着重要作用。我们相信，对于学生的在线学习环境，无论是定性研究还是定量研究，都能得出更有效的评估。我们要求受访者在听完一则反思故事后完成客观陈述，这样我们对其态度、信念和行为得到更为可信的特征描写。在UCF主持的最后一次调查，学生使用了一系列利克特五级量表问卷，围绕之前通过广泛数据工作确定下来的两个方面，评估他们的在线学习体验。第一个领域——学习参与情况——通过六项条目标明学生的：

Overall satisfaction with online learning

在线学习的总体满意度

Ability to integrate technology into their education

在其教育中整合技术的能力

Ability to control their own learning

控制自我学习的能力

Ability to study efficiently

高效学习的能力

Ability to meet their educational objectives

达成教育目标的能力

Willingness to take another online course

宁愿更换其他在线课程

The second domain—interaction value—asked students to evaluate their online learning experience in regard to:

第二个领域——对待互动的态度——要求学生从以下几个方面评估他们在线学习体验：

Ease of interaction

易于互动

Amount of interaction with students

与学生互动的次数

Quality of interaction with students

与学生互动的质量

Amount of interaction with the instructor

与教师互动的次数

Quality of interaction with the instructor

与教师互动的质量

In addition, the survey protocol asked the learners to state their opinions on whether they changed their approach to learning because of their online experiences (nominal yes–no format). This was followed with a request for an explanation of any reported change. To obtain a directly interpretable measure for assessment, the authors designed a scoring protocol for student responses to learning engagement and interaction value compared to the maximum possible value. For example, if a student scored 66 on learning engagement, his or her positive perception was 66 percent of the maximum possible.

此外，无论学习者是否因其在线学习体验而改变其学习方法（标准的是否格式），该调查协议都要求说出他们的原因。接下来要求对任何报告的改变做出解释。要获得一个直接可解释的评估方法，
作者针对学生对参与学习的反应，和相比于对待互动的态度的最大值，设计了一套评分规则。比如，假设一个学生在学习参与方面得到66分，那么他的积极认知就可以达到最大可能性的66%。

Using the Generations as a Basis of Comparison

以世代作为比较基准

At a metropolitan research institution such as UCF, a substantial portion of students represent diverse generations—principally Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) and Generation X (born 1965–1980). These two cohorts provided the backdrop for our analysis of Net Gen (born 1981–1994) students' learning engagement, interaction value and changed learning approach. There is an important additional generation on the UCF campuses: the Matures (born prior to 1946). Because our demographic and survey work suggests that they represent less than 2 percent of UCF's online population, we have not included them in the comparisons.

城市研究机构诸如UCF，其大部分学生都代表着不同的世代——主要是婴儿潮世代（生于1946-1964）和里根世代（生于1965-1980）。这两个世代为我们分析网络世代（生于1981-1994）学生的学习参与情况、对待互动的态度、对学习方法的改变，提供了背景资料。在UCF校园还有一个重要的额外世代：成熟一代（出生早于1946）。因为我们的人口统计学工作和调查工作标明，他们仅占到UCF在线人数的2%，我们没有将其列入对比当中。

Baby Boomers

婴儿潮世代

Through sheer numbers, Baby Boomers have impacted nearly every aspect of American society. They experienced rapidly expanding economic circumstances that led to a sense of financial security. An enduring optimism permeates Baby Boomers, who are process-oriented, preoccupied with convenience, and willing to go into debt. They populate high positions in all sectors of American culture and attract attention for their likely impact on the nation's economy when they retire.^16–19

由于数量众多，婴儿潮世代几乎影响到美国社会的方方面面。他们熟练而快速地占领经济领域，并带来了金融安全感。婴儿潮世代弥漫着持久的乐观精神，他们看重过程，沉迷于便利，愿意承担债务。他们位居美国文化各方面的高级职务，他们退休时因其对国家经济的巨大影响而受到关注。

Generation X

里根世代

The Generation Xers were the first "latch key" generation and strongly influenced by emerging technological developments. Financially, they experienced wide-scale job loss and runaway inflation that led to their sense of economic and social skepticism. These events shaped their hallmark characteristics: they mistrust most of society's organizations and institutions, and they believe that stabilizing influences such as job security are a myth. They seem impertinent because of their confrontational style. For Generation X, versatility is the key to stability.^19–21

里根世代是最早的“钥匙一代”，受到新技术发展的强烈影响。在财务方面，他们经历了大规模失业和通货膨胀失控，导致对经济和社会的怀疑感。这些事件塑造了他们的标志性特点：他们非常不信任社会组织和机构，他们认为所谓的稳定影响，比如就业保障，纯属神话。因为他们的对抗风格，他们看上去很鲁莽。对于里根世代，变通是其稳定的关键。

Learning Engagement, Interaction Value, and Enhanced Learning in the Generations

各个世代的学习参与情况、对待互动的态度、学习提高情况

The current UCF survey yielded 1,489 online student responses, representing a return rate of approximately 30 percent. Figure 1 depicts the generation membership of the respondents. The sample contained a majority of Generation X students with approximately equal proportions of Baby Boomers and the Net Gen. This finding reinforces the expectation that there is substantial age diversity in the distributed learning population in metropolitan universities.

当前UCF调查得到了1489例在线学生的回应，回报率达到大约三成。图一描述了受访者的世代分布。该示例包含的里根世代学生超过半数，婴儿潮世代和网络世代各占到大约四分之一。该发现强化了这样一种预期，即在都市大学的分布式学习人群当中，年龄分布呈多样化。

Figure 1. Generations of Online Students

图一、在线学生的世代分布

As Figure 2 illustrates, older learners reported more positive learning engagement. The Net Gen, with 73 percent of maximum, shows a steep decline compared to Boomers' 85 percent rating. The positive narratives for all three groups stressed flexibility, convenience, and self-paced learning for their online experiences. Those points converge on reduced opportunity cost for obtaining an education thanks to online learning. The less positive perceptions of the generations showed extensive variability. Baby Boomers lamented the lack of face-to-face interaction in the online environment, a comment consistent with this generation's tendency to discuss and tell stories. Generation X was uncomfortable with the continual connectedness of online learning that contradicts their penchant to "get to the point" and "move on with it." The Net Gen respondents were disappointed; they perceived a lack of immediacy in their online courses and felt that faculty response times lagged behind their expectations.

如图2所示，年长学习者参与学习更加积极。网络世代，达到最大值的73%，与婴儿潮世代的85%相比，显示出较大的差距。这三组的积极性体现了他们在网上学习经验中的的灵活性、便利性、自我调整能力。这些使得教育因为在线学习而降低机会成本。各世代认知不够积极，表明有各种原因。婴儿潮世代哀叹在线环境缺乏面对面的交流，该世代倾向于讨论、讲故事，这与其评价相一致。里根世代不习惯在线学习的不间断连通，这与他们的“直奔主题”、“继续前进”偏好相抵触。网络世代受访者感动失望，他们觉得在线课程缺乏即时性，觉得教师的响应时间慢得超出了他们的预期。

Figure 2. Percent of Maximum Scores on Learning Engagement for the Generations

图二、各世代学习参与程度比值

Figure 3 presents the trend in interaction value from one generation to the next. Again, a comparison of the three generations shows a high of approximately 63 percent for the Boomers, 56 percent for Generation X, and 50 percent for the Net Gen. The narratives for interaction indicated that the Boomers judged communication patterns in online classes to constitute one-on-one attention. Gen-Xers responded well to the constant availability of interaction. Net Geners enjoyed the ability to form interactive communities among their peers. On the less positive side, Baby Boomers preferred some face-to-face encounters with their instructors; Generation X students reported substantial, pointless interaction in class; and the Net Gen students felt that the interaction mechanisms designed by their instructors were much less adequate than their personal technologies.

图三列出了从各代人之间对互动的态度趋势。同样，比较三代人，可以看到婴儿潮世代大约高达63%，里根世代达到56%，网络世代只有50% . 对互动的描述指出，婴儿潮世代认为在线课堂的通讯模式构成了一对一的关注。里根世代对于持续不断的有用互动反应良好。网络世代喜欢在其同伴之间形成互动社区的能力。在不积极的方面，婴儿潮世代首选与其导师的面对面接触，里根世代学生称在课堂中有大量无意义的互动，网络世代学生觉得他们导师设计的互动机制，与他们自己的技术相比，太少了。

Figure 3. Percent of Maximum Scores on Interaction Value for the Generations

图三、各世代对待互动的态度比值

Generational differences were also found in whether students changed their approach to learning as a result of their online experience (see Figure 4). The downward trend by age cohorts continues for this measure. More than half of the Boomers claimed that they modified their learning techniques; the Net Geners decreased to a low of 23 percent. The narratives showed that Baby Boomers enhanced their technology skills and integrated them into their modified student roles, Gen-X students improved their ability to manage time effectively, and Net Geners felt a heightened sense of responsibility and motivation.

在学生是否因为在线学习体验而改变其学习方法的调查当中，也存在世代差异（见图四）。按年龄层下降的趋势会继续存在。超过半数的婴儿潮世代宣称，他们修改了他们的学习方法。网络世代改变数量降低到23% . 这项调查显示，婴儿潮世代增强了他们的技术技能，并纳入到修改后的学生角色当中，里根世代学生改善了他们有效地管理时间的能力，网络世代的责任和动机有明显提高。

Figure 4. Students Who Changed Their Approach to Learning by Generation

图四、各世代学生改变其学习方法的比例

Responding to Results

研究结果

These differences in student generations present an opportunity for the institution to work toward instruction that addresses the varying needs of students. At UCF, faculty members who teach online or blended courses participate in a faculty development course designed to guide them in both technological and pedagogical approaches to Web instruction. Through a series of interactive sessions with instructional designers and Web faculty veterans, beginning faculty are encouraged to redesign their courses to focus on being student centered and interactive. Beyond the course structure faculty learn to integrate formative and summative assessment mechanisms, both for themselves and for students. The focus is on faculty facilitating instruction and students becoming active and interactive learners.²² Blended learning provides a unique opportunity to bridge generations, providing the face-to-face contact requested by Baby Boomers, the independence preferred by Gen-Xers, and the interaction and sense of community desired by Net Geners. Extensive use of e-mail, discussion groups, and live chat increases communication and collaboration among students as well as between students and the instructor.

各世代学生之间的这些差异，为教育机构努力教学，解决学生的各种需求，提供了机会。在UCF，教授在线课程和混合课程的教师，都参与到旨在引导他们技术和教学法适应网络教学的教师发展课程。通过一系列与教学设计者、网络教师高手的互动环节，鼓励教师开始重新设计自己的课程，注重以学生为中心，注重互动。除了课程结构之外，教师还学到为他们自己和为学生，整合形成性评价和终结性评价机制。重点在于促进教学的能力，使学生变成积极互动的学习者。混合式学习为沟通各世代提供了独特机会，为婴儿潮世代提供了他们要求的面对面沟通，为里根世代提供了他们首选的独立，为网络世代提供了他们渴望的互动和社区感觉。广泛使用电子邮件、小组讨论、实时聊天，增进了学生之间、师生之间的交流和合作。

Excellent Teaching

优秀教学

From our exploration of generational issues, an important question evolved: Can students distinguish characterizations of excellent teachers independent of generation, learning style, course modality, and technological sophistication? Data collected at UCF, with more than half a million student responses, suggest an answer.²³ We have identified six characteristics that students attribute to the best faculty—characteristics that are independent of age, gender, and academic achievement. Interestingly, these characteristics correspond to the seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education²⁴ and to the national study of student engagement.²⁵ Although students' behaviors, attitudes, and expectations are generally shaped by their generation, what constitutes good teaching appears to be universal across these generations. Students believe that excellent instructors:

在我们对各世代的问题的探究过程中，产生了一个重要问题：学生能否辨别出优秀教师与世代无关、学习风格、课程方式、技术复杂程度的特征？从UCF 收集的数据，包括超过五十万学生的反馈，给出了答案。我们找到六项学生认为优秀教师应有的特征，这些特征与年龄、性别、学术成就无关。有趣的是，这些特征都符合《本科教育优秀教法七项原则》和《对学生参与的国家研究》。虽然学生的行为、态度、和期望通常会受到所属世代的影响，但优秀教学的定义在各个世代都是一样的。学生相信，优秀教师应当：

Facilitate student learning

促进学生学习

Communicate ideas and information effectively

有效交流想法及信息

Demonstrate genuine interest in student learning

展示出真正关心学生的学习

Organize their courses effectively

有效组织课程

Show respect and concern for their students

尊重、关心学生

Assess student progress fairly and effectively

公平有效的评估学生学习进度

This seemingly paradoxical way in which students determine teaching excellence through the lens of their instructors clarifies how universities must accommodate students' needs, realizing that these needs are universal, yet greatly mediated by the Net Generation.

学生透过对教师的看法体现出对优秀教学的认定，这种看似矛盾的方法，点明了大学必须适应学生需求的程度，认识到这些需求是普遍的、在很大程度上以网络世代为媒介。

Conclusion

结论

The Net Generation possesses sophisticated technological adaptability and a remarkable capacity to incorporate multitasking into day-to-day academic activities. However, there is also a growing discrepancy between institutional infrastructure and these students' personalized facility with information. Freeland²⁶ described a corresponding trend emerging in higher education that he called practice-oriented education—the combination of liberal and professional studies. He foreshadowed the students' tendency to learn through bricolage and the university's reticence to respond: "After 1945 it [the academy] became steadily more open… [but] as its clientele became more 'modern,' higher education became more traditional."²⁷ As we move into the next decades, the resolution of that polarization compels colleges and universities to examine, and perhaps redesign, their strategic direction.

网络世代拥有发达的技术适应性和卓越的能力，把多任务能力融入到日常学术活动当中。然而，在教育机构基础设施，及其学生的个性化信息技能之间，也有日渐扩大的差距。弗里兰描述了高等教育新出现的相应趋势，他称之为面向实践的教育——结合了自由学习和专业研究。他预言学生倾向于拼凑式学习，而大学无以应对：“一九四五年以后，高校逐渐变得开放……但是因为其客户变得更加‘现代化’，高等教育就愈发显得传统。”当我们进入下一个十年，这种两极分化的状况，迫使高校展开调研，可能要重新设计他们的战略走向。

If today's students do not represent the constituency that our higher educational system is designed to teach as asserted by Prensky,²⁸ how do we remedy that situation? Possibly, by studying how students interacted (politically, economically, culturally, socially, and technologically) with institutions' instructional climate in the past. By monitoring technology developments and their impact on the student population, we will be better able to anticipate the needs of the class of 2025. This approach will thrust institutions into a forward-thinking posture rather than a reactionary one in response to incoming student cohorts.

如普林斯基所称，如果今天的学生并不代表我们高等教育体制要教的客户，那么我们要如何解决这一局面？或许，通过研究学生过去如何与教育机构的教育思潮进行（政治、经济、文化、社会、技术）互动。通过监视技术的发展以及对学生的影响，我们可以更好地预测二〇二五年学生的需求。这种做法会推动教育机构富有远见，而非回应新进学生的保守者。

From an instructional design perspective, we realize that knowing our students gives us many more options for engaging them in the learning process. Throughout the generations, colleges and universities have attempted to tailor instructional protocols to accommodate students' preferences for acquiring knowledge, enhance learning, reduce ambivalence, facilitate maturation, and maximize success. The audacity with which the Net generation has burst on the academic scene has accelerated our need to understand its learning characteristics. A conundrum accompanies that solution, however: adaptation for the present generation may not be adequate for the next.

从教学设计的角度来看，我们认识到，了解我们的学生给我们参与到学生学习过程中有了更多选择。高校都尝试制定适合所有世代的教学协议，以满足学生对获取知识、增强学习、减少矛盾、促进成熟、取得最大限度成功的偏好。网络世代的大胆，常常在教学环境中爆发，加快了我们对了解其学习特征的需求。然而，解决老问题同时伴随有新问题：适应现在的世代就有可能不能适应下一代人。

Endnotes

尾注

Neil Howe and William Strauss, Millennials Rising:The Next Great Generation (New York: Vintage Books, 2000).

Alan Kay quoted in Marc Prensky, Digital Game-Based Learning (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000), p. 38.

Marshall McLuhan and Bruce R. Powers, The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

Steve Jones et al., "The Internet Goes to College: How Students Are Living in the Future with Today's Technology" (Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet & American Life Project, September 15, 2002), http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=71.

Ibid.

Charles D. Dziuban, Patsy Moskal, and Joel Hartman, "Blended Learning" (Boulder, Colo.: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Learning, research bulletin, issue 7, 2004), http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ecar_so/erb/ERB0407.pdf.

Steve Silberman, "Just Say Nokia," Wired Magazine, issue 7.09 (September 1999), p. 2.

Joel Garreau, "Cell Biology: Like the Bee, This Evolving Species Buzzes and Swarms," Washington Post, July 31, 2002, p. C01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A23395-2002Jul30.

Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books Group, 2002).

Bryan Alexander, "Going Nomadic: Mobile Learning in Higher Education," EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004), pp. 30, http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0451.asp.

Claude Lévi-Strauss, The Savage Mind (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1968).

Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (New York: Touchstone, 1995).

John Seely Brown, "Growing Up Digital," Change, vol. 32, no. 2 (March/April 2000), pp. 10–11, http://www.aahe.org/change/digital.pdf.

Turkle, op. cit., p. 60.

Dziuban, Moskal, and Hartman, op. cit.

Diana Oblinger, "Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials: Understanding the 'New Students,'" EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 38, no. 4 (July/August 2003), pp. 37–47, http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm03/erm034.asp.

Howe and Strauss, op. cit.

Robert W. Wendover, From Ricky & Lucy to Beavis & Butthead: Managing the New Workforce (Aurora, Colo.: The Center for Generational Studies, Inc., 2002).

Oblinger, op. cit.

William Strauss and Neil Howe, Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1991).

Wendover, op. cit.

Dziuban, Moskal, and Hartman, op. cit.

Charles D. Dziuban, Morgan D. Wang, and Ida J. Cook, "Dr. Fox Rocks: Student Perceptions of Excellent and Poor College Teaching" (unpublished manuscript, 2004).

Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson, "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," AAHE Bulletin, vol. 39, no. 7 (March 1987), pp. 3–7, http://aahebulletin.com/public/archive/sevenprinciples1987.asp.

George D. Kuh, "Assessing What Really Matters to Student Learning," Change, vol. 33, no. 3 (2001), pp. 10–19.

Richard M. Freeland, "The Third Way," The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 294, no. 3 (October 2004), pp. 144–147, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200410/freeland.

Ibid., p. 141.

Marc Prensky, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part I," On the Horizon, vol. 9, no. 5 (October 2001); available from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/.

延伸阅读

Charles D. Dziuban et al., "Three ALN Modalities: An Institutional Perspective," in Elements of Quality Online Education: Into the Mainstream, volume 5 in the Sloan-C series, John Bourne and Janet C. Moore, eds. (Needham, Mass.: Sloan-C, 2003), http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/books/vol5summary.pdf.

Charles D. Dziuban, Patsy Moskal, and Joel Hartman, "Higher Education, Blended Learning, and the Generations: Knowledge Is Power—No More," in Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, volume 6 in the Sloan-C series, John Bourne and Janet C. Moore, eds. (Needham, Mass.: Sloan-C, in press).

Jay W. Forrester, "System Dynamics and the Lessons of 35 Years," The Systemic Basis of Policy Making in the 1990s, Kenyon B. De Greene, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1991); see http://sysdyn.clexchange.org/sdep/papers/D-4224-4.pdf.

About the Authors

关于作者

Charles Dziuban is director of the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE) at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he has been a faculty member since 1970 teaching research design and statistics. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin. Since 1997, he has directed the impact evaluation of UCF's distributed learning initiative, examining student and faculty outcomes as well as gauging the impact of online courses on the university. Dziuban has received funding from several government and industrial agencies, including the Ford Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control. In 2000, he was named UCF's first-ever Pegasus Professor for extraordinary research, teaching, and service.

查尔斯·久班，是佛罗里达中央大学（UCF）教学效力研究计划（RITE）主任，自一九七〇年以来任教《研究设计与统计》。在威斯康星大学获得博士学位。自一九九七年，他领导了UCF的分布式学习计划的影响力评估，衡量学生及教师的成果，以及计量大学在线课程的影响。已获得若干政府和企业机构的资金，包括福特基金会和美国疾病控制中心。二〇〇〇年，他被任命为UCF史上第一位飞马教授，以表彰其非凡的研究、教学和服务。

Joel L. Hartman is vice provost for information technologies and resources at UCF. As the university's CIO, he has overall responsibility for library, computing, networking, telecommunications, media services, and distributed learning activities. He previously served as treasurer and chair of the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors and currently serves as chair of the EDUCAUSE National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) Planning Committee. He also serves on the Florida Digital Divide Council, the Microsoft Higher Education Advisory Council, and the board of directors of Florida LambdaRail. Hartman graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism and communications, and received his doctorate from UCF.

乔尔·哈特曼，UCF 信息技术与资源副主管。作为大学CIO，他全权负责图书馆、计算机、网络、电信、媒体服务、分布式学习活动。此前担任EDUCASE 董事会的财务主管和主席，目前担任EDUCASE 国家学习架构计划（NLII）规划委员会主席。他还服务于佛罗里达州数字鸿沟委员会、微软高等教育咨询委员会、佛罗里达兰姆达横杆董事会。伊利诺伊大学香槟分校，具有学士和新闻传播硕士学位，并在UCF 获得了博士学位。

Patsy Moskal is the faculty research associate for RITE at UCF, where she has been a faculty member since 1989. She received an EdD from UCF specializing in instructional technology and research methods and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science. Since 1996, she has served as the liaison for faculty research of distributed learning at UCF. Moskal specializes in statistics, graphics, and applied data analysis. She has extensive experience in research methods, including survey development, interviewing, and conducting focus groups, and frequently serves as a consultant to school districts, industry, and government organizations.

帕齐·莫什卡尔，是UCF 的RITE 的教师研究助理，自一九八九年开始执教。在教学和研究方法的技术专业获得佛罗里达中央大学的教育博士，拥有计算机科学学士和硕士学位。自一九九六年，一直担任UCF 分布式学习的教师研究联络员。擅长统计、图形、数据分析和应用。在研究方法方面有着丰富的经验，包括调查的发展、访谈、主持小组讨论，并经常以顾问身份服务于学区、行业和政府机构。

Web-only Chapter Resources

网络章节资源

Center for Generational Studies, <http://www.gentrends.com>.

Learning online at UCF, <http://online.ucf.edu/index.html>.

UCF Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE), <http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~rite>.

Pew Internet & American Life Project, <http://www.pewinternet.org/>.

UCF's Faculty Development Courses, <http://reach.ucf.edu/~idl6543/>, <http://reach.ucf.edu/~adl5000/>, and <http://reach.ucf.edu/~essentials/>.

National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE), <http://www.indiana.edu/~nsse/>.

The generational writings of Marc Prensky, <http://www.marcprensky.com/>.

UCF Video on the Generations, <http://engage.ucf.edu:28158/ramgen/ucf/cdws/parlor/parlor2.rm>.

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/EducatingtheNetGeneration/PreparingtheAcademyofTodayfort/6062

Orca's Blog

2009年8月25日星期二

翻译《06 为明日学习者准备好今日的高校》