Blended Learning and the Generations

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Blended Learning andthe Generations

• Chuck Dziuban
• Joel Hartman
• Patsy Moskal

University of Central Florida
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Some characteristics ofthe generations

• Matures (prior to 1946)
• Dedicated to a job they take on
• Respectful of authority
• Place duty before pleasure
• Baby boomers (1946-1964)
• Live to work
• Generally optimistic
• Influence on policy products

• Generation X (1965-1980)
• Work to live
• Clear consistent expectations
• Value contributing to the whole
• Millennials (1981-1994)
• Live in the moment
• Expect immediacy of technology
• Earn money for immediate consumption

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Technology is anything inventedafter you were
born
Alan Kay
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Millennials and Technology

• Millennials are the first generation to grow up
  in a digital world
• The PC Window-based OS
• The Internet World Wide Web
• The CD
• Millennials have access to technology that is
  personal, portable, powerful, multifunction,
  multimedia, and affordable
• Millennials attitudes and behaviors have been
  shaped by technology to an extent far greater
  than previous generations

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Millennials todays learners

• Diverse
• Mobile
• Always connected
• Experiential
• Multitasking
• Community-oriented
• Digitally literate

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Media literacy
By age 21, todays college studentswill have
spent

• 10,000 hours playing video games
• Sent/received 200,000 E-mails
• 20,000 hours watching TV
• 10,000 hours on a cell phone
• Under 5,000 hours reading

Prensky, 2003
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Games are a way of life

• 69 have played games since elementary school
• 77 have played games by high school
• 100 have experienced games by college
• 60 of college students are regular players
• Games are part of Millennials multitasking
  environment, and are integrated into daily
  life(and studying)

--Jones, 2003
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College Internet use

• 79 Internet has a positive impact on
  academic experience
• 73 Use the Internet more than the library for
  research
• 72 Check E-mail every day
• 60 Internet has improved relationships with
  classmates (56 professors)
• 46 Can express ideas they would not have
  expressed in class

Jones, 2002
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Internet a social technology

• Millennials use the Internet primarily as a
  social technology
• They use the Internet to maintain multiple lines
  of communication
• IM for quick communication
• E-mail or phone for longer communication
• Home computer is a repository of important
  information other devices (laptop, PDA)
  transport the material

--Lextant, 2003
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Rising expectations

• The rising expectations of technology-literate
  students are difficult to meet
• Service expectations
• Amazon.com and Google are their models
• They expect self-service,immediacy, and the
  abilityto customize
• Engaging learning experiences
• Satisfaction levels decreasingwith each
  successive generation

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Millennials the up side

• Goal oriented
• Positive attitudes
• Collaborative style
• Multitasking
• Technologically savvy
• Learn by tinkering

?Raines, 2002
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Millennials the down side

• Weak critical thinking skills
• Naïve beliefs regarding intellectual property and
  the authenticity of information found on the
  Internet
• Question everything
• High expectation levels / low satisfaction levels
• Technology preferences have no institutional
  context (IM, wikis, blogs, social networking
  sites)

Prensky, 2003
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The freshman mindset

• Computers have always fit in their backpacks
• Photos have always been processed in an hour
• They have always had a PIN
• Paul Newman has always made salad dressing
• Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents
• Gas has always been unleaded
• Oliver North has always been a talk show host

--Beloit College, 2003 2004
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UCFs top down and bottom up approach
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The generations inblended courses
(N18,732)
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Students very satisfied with blended learning by
generation
(N491)
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Changed approach to learningby generation
(N491)
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Web definitely madeinteraction easier
(N491)
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Students positive perceptions about blended
learning

• Convenience
• Reduced logistic demands
• Increased learning flexibility
• Technology-enhanced learning

Reduced Opportunity Costs for Education
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Students less positive perceptions about blended
learning

• Reduced face-to-face time
• Technology problems
• Reduced instructor assistance
• Increased workload

Increased Opportunity Costs for Education
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College Level Academic Skills Tests (CLAST)
English scores
N 16,293
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College Level Academic Skills Tests (CLAST) Math
scores
N 15,812
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Upper undergraduatesuccess rate
n447
n2,172
n4,330
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Upper undergraduatewithdrawal rate
n2,250
n4,530
n465
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What is blended learning?

• Working definition from the Sloan-C Blended
  Learning Workshop
• A course or program that combines online
  learning and face-to-face instruction in a manner
  that reduces the number of face-to-face classroom
  meetings.

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What to call it?

• Blended? Hybrid? Mixed-mode?
• What you call it is not important
• Ensuring everyone on your campus knows what your
  chosen term means is
• To the more experienced institutions, blending
  represents the optimization of pedagogical
  approaches, rather than a time division between
  online and F2F

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What does it mean to institutions?

• Improve teaching and learning (e.g., implement
  learner-centered pedagogies)
• Move from an ad-hoc bottom up approach to an
  institutional initiative
• Increase flexibility and convenience for students
• Increase efficiency of classroom utilization
  (e.g., manage growth, reduce costs)

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What does it mean to faculty?

• A safe way to explore online learning
• More work, but likely worth it in terms of
  improved student engagement and achievement
• A way to meet student expectations
• Possibly the best of both worlds

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What does it mean to students?

• Blended learning is inwardly directed and can
  potentially impact all of the institutions
  students
• For Millennials, blended learning represents an
  attractive alternative to F2F instruction
• Blended learning is a good match for Millennials
  visual, exploratory, social learning preferences
• Millennials expect everything to be online
• Older generations may not perceive blended
  learning the same way as Millennials

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Institutional Impacts

• Organizational structures
• Student academic support services
• Policies
• Scalability of business processes and
  infrastructure
• Faculty development
• Assessment
• Classroom multimedia and network access
• Funding

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Critical success factors

• Clear sense of institutional purpose and expected
  outcomes
• Pro-active policy formation
• Faculty engagement and development
• Learner support
• Coordinated involvement of campus service
  providers
• Online support services
• Assessment for continuous improvement
• Modified institutional processes (e.g., classroom
  scheduling)

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Contacts

• Dr. Chuck Dziuban
• [phone]
• dziuban_at_mail.ucf.edu
• Dr. Joel L. Hartman
• [phone]
• joel_at_mail.ucf.edu
• Dr. Patsy Moskal
• [phone]
• pdmoskal_at_mail.ucf.edu
• http//pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/rite

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DISCUSSION