Terms! Terms! Terms!

OK. So here's what I'm dealing with. My goal is to write this literature review by Monday MIDNIGHT so I'm compiling my notes now. One of the biggest hurdles I've come up on now that I'm organizing my notes to write is the issue with terms. 

TERMS!

WHO is the Google Generation? 

(Berk, 2009) sums it all up pretty neatly and THEN some... I've come across most of these in my research, but not all and have been compiling a list that looks similar to this, although not quite as comprehensive.

1. Millennials: Howe and Strauss (2000) indicate that the students actually coined that term themselves to disassociate themselves from Gen X. These authors also use 1982–2001 for 18 childhood years for the high school graduating class of 2000 as they entered the new millennium.
2. Generation Y (or Gen Y): This term appeared first in an editorial by Nader (2003) in The Age to refer to teenagers born between 1977 and 1978. They are now considered part of Generation X. It was derived simply from the succession of one generation to the next—the demographic cohort following Gen Xers. (Note: This logic has already been applied to naming the Next Generation after this one, Generation Z [Tapscott, 2009].) Gen Y turned out to be a pejorative label which many teenagers found offensive. It says nothing about their distinguishing characteristics or behaviors.
3. Echo Boomers: This term relates to the size of this generation and its relation to the Baby Boomers. The Baby Boom has an echo and it‘s even louder than the original (Tapscott, 1997, 2009). They are the offspring of those Boomers. The ―echo boom‖ of more than four million births occurred between 1989 and 1993. The current cohort is now the second largest demographic in the U.S.
4. Net Generation (or Net Geners): This term was coined by Tapscott (1997). It is linked directly to the (Inter)net and the emerging digital technology of the 1990s with which this generation grew up. They never knew a world without computers and the Internet.
5. Trophy Generation (or Trophy Kids): This term is derived from competitive sports and the practice where no one loses and everyone receives a ―trophy‖ (actually a certificate) for participating (Alsop, 2008b; Tulgan, 2009). In other words, everyone wins and should be recognized for their efforts. There is a perceived sense of entitlement by members of this generation. These students are success-driven with a pressure to excel in school, sports, hobbies, and just about everything they do (Alsop, 2008b). They assertively seek constant feedback, responsibility, and involvement in decision making (Alsop, 2008a).
6. First Digitals: This term is associated with the Digital Revolution during the 1990s. This generation is the first to grow up immersed in everything digital.
7. Dot.Com Generation: This term characterizes the students who received intensive education in information technology prior to entering the university in 2000 (Stein & Craig, 2000).
8. Digital Aboriginals: Tarlow and Tarlow (2002) draw on the aborigines‘ view of the world that all things are connected and analyze this generation‘s behaviors from an anthropological perspective
9. Nexters: Zemke, Raines, and Filipczak (1999) use this term in their book to refer to this generation. It might be considered a slang version of Next Generation.
10. Digital Natives: This term coined by Prensky (2001a, 2001b, 2006) explains a lot about these students‘ characteristics in the context of the growing technology in the 1990s, but has also been fraught with considerable controversy. They are branded as ―digital natives‖ because ―digital‖ is their native language. They are ―native speakers‖ of the language of computers, video games, and the Internet and have spent their entire lives surrounded by computers, cell phones, and all the gadgetry of the digital age. As you walk across campus, you will notice that these teen and 20-something students have wires coming out of every part of their bodies. Attached to those wires are MP3 players, iPods, Zunes, Zens, iPhones, RAZRs, BlackBerrys, or the latest techy gizmo or thingamajig (Junco & Mastrodicasa, 2007; Mastrodicasa, 2007; Oblinger, 2008a).

Next: WHAT is INFORMATION LITERACY?!

I've seen it referred to as:

• information fluency
• information competency

NOT to be confused with:

• computer literacy
• technology literacy
• digital literacy

Technology has increased the amount of available information but the skills associated with IL are about finding and dealing with information NOT about the medium in which it is produced or viewed. 


Information Literacy:

• Media Literacy (visual literacy, computer literacy)
• Research & Library Skills (searching, boolean logic, etc)
• Critical Literacy (critical reading, critical thinking, etc)
• Information Ethics (copyright, security & privacy, etc)     

PEW Internet & American Life Project

The Pew Research Center is a non-partisan fact tank--operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the International Revenue Service code--that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping American and the world. I stumbled across this really amazing site from one of the resources I was directed to on my quest to clarify the exact meaning (if one exists) of Information Literacy last week. For the purposes of my 285 research class, I'm mostly interested in the Pew Internet & American Life Project.


This 115 page report is a survey of Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers who found that teens' research are changing in the digital age. Of course this isn't anything new to argument I'm currently looking at involving both sides of the net-gener debate BUT what's interesting about this particular piece is the extensive research that is both current and very comprehensive.

Retrieved from: http://pewresearch.org/

I am so very excited about this particular study--hot off the presses, published only two days ago. A quick summary of findings of some of the really fascinating heading topics that hit my research questions DEAD ON:

1. The internet and digital technologies are significantly impacting how students conduct research: 77% of these teachers say the overall impact is “mostly positive,” but they sound many cautionary notes
2. The internet has changed the very meaning of “research” (see the graphic left)
3. Most teachers encourage online research, including the use of digital technologies such as cell phones to find information quickly, yet point to barriers in the school environment impeding quality online research
4. Teachers give students’ research skills modest ratings
5. Most teachers give students modest ratings of “good” or “fair” when it comes to specific research skills
6. A richer information environment, but at the price of distracted students?

I'm so excited. This is the keystone piece that's going to glue all my research together regarding today's youth and their information literacy skills.

More to Read
Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers Say by Matt Richtel (New York Times): November 1, 2012

Cognitive Load Theory: Been There, Seen That... Or Have I?

This week I'm digging through a lot of paperwork on Research Guides for my Advanced Reference class and came across one article by Jennifer J. Little, Cognitive Load Theory and Library Research Guides (2010). In this paper, she quotes Lazonder and Rouet "...it has been recognized that  studying electronic documents can cause feelings of disorientation and cognitive overload" (2008, p. 757).

Is THIS why as a grad student immersed in a completely online program, I can read through 6-8 articles a day--take copious notes and still not remember exactly where I'd read what I read next week? Between my Kindle, my Kindle Fire, my desktop, laptop, cell phone reading materials on Google Drive, D2L, Gmail, Facebook, chat rooms, discussion boards, websites, etc. I am in a constant state of some sort of intellectual... fog.

Image retrieved from: http://blog.cachinko.com/2011/09/02/brain-fog-4-ways-to-clear-your-mind-boost-productivity/

 Little writes, "cognitive load theory seeks to reduce or manage the working memory load or cognitive load, in order to assist learners in developing meaningful learning experiences". In terms of creating research guides, cognitive load studies help librarians create pedagogically sound research guides. In terms of my academic career... there's actually a term for what I'm suffering!

Cognitive load theory seems based on the idea that cognitive capacity for learning is limited and that learners are often "overwhelmed by the number of information elements and their interactions that need to be processed" (Paas, Renkle, and Sweller, 2004:1)

---TO BE EXPLORED FURTHER LATER: Currently IN one of these cognitive FOGS---


Lazonder, A.W., & Rouet, J.F. (2008). Information problem solving instruction: Some cognitive and metacognitive issues. Computers in Human Behavior. 24. 753-765.

Paas, F., Renkle, A., & Sweller, J. (2004). Cognitive load theory: Instructional implications of the interaction between information structures and cognitive architecture. Instructional Science, 32. 1-8.

Information Literacy: An AMBIGUOUS term for an equally ambiguous group!!

Terms, terms, terms!!! I think I've hit a brick wall.

The more research I do on the topic of information literacy, the more I'm finding out that different people interpret it differently. The most common idea I've discovered is that most people in the Academic Library world view information literacy (IL) as an umbrella term that includes other sorts of literacies: digital literacy, media literacy, critical literacy, etc.

The graphic below seems to match the understanding I'm coming to agree with:

Graphic from http://www.flickr.com/photos/danahlongley/4472897115/lightbox/

I've got over 12 books on my desk spanning from everything to the Net Geners to Wikinomics to learning pedagogies to video games and learning, I've gone through 2 reams of paper and a brand new laser toner cartridge ($$$)... and I got so far into the forest, I couldn't even see the trees... or vice versa. See? Look at what I'm doing to myself.

Add on top of that, there's a few different terms for the new tech-generation I'm looking at. One person says they're individuals born after 1993--another says they're those who were between the age of 2 and 22 in 2002! Apparently Generation ME, isn't considered the same as Generation MYSpace, but the Millenials encompass the Google Generation and the Net Geners. I think.

I had to ask a professor I know who teaches IL--Michelle Simmons--great resource (I'm going to have to take her class now that I've read everything under the sun now on IL seemingly) and she forwarded her lecture over to me for the start of the term which has some helpful definitions of information literacy. I'll cut & paste them into this blog to keep all my notes in one place:

A few definitions of information literacy:

1. "The ability to locate, evaluate, and use information to become independent life-long learners" - Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Criteria for Accreditation, Section 5.1.2 [Library and Other Information Resources] Services. 10th ed. Dec. 1996.
2. The set of abilities requiring individuals “to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” -- American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1989.)
3. “An information literate individual is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally.” -- "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." Association of College and Research Libraries. 2006. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

4. “Ultimately information literate people are those who have learned how to learn.” (ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, 1989).

Resources for further reading:

• ACRLog (http://acrlog.org/) is a blog sponsored by ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) and written by practicing librarians, some of whose names you will be familiar with from our readings for this course (for example, Barb Fister and Scott Walter)
• AASL Blog (http://aaslblog.org) is a blog sponsored by AASL (Association of School Librarians). This blog is focused on issues related to the K-12 library community.
• Information Literacy Blog (http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/) is written by Sheila Webber, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK. She tends to write with an international perspective on information literacy issues. I enjoy the photos that she includes with almost every post.
• Hannelore Rader has published annual annotated bibliographies about information literacy from 1975 to 1999 in Reference Services Review. You can find her bibliographies by doing a search for her name in the Library Literature database through SJSU.

Some additional readings she also suggested I take a look at:

• Booth, C. (2011). Reflective Teaching, Effective Learning: Instructional Literacy for Library Educators. American Library Association Editions. 
• Barbara Fister: librarian at Gustavus Alopjus College in MN and a total rock star in the IL world. 
• Pew Research Studies about Info Seeking and different age groups. 
• U of Wash's Project Information Literacy: great research on the ways of different groups of people finding and using information.

Scratch Pad - Search Terms

This is a scratchpad that I plan on updating with more search terms and ideas/questions/problems... I thought it'd be best to have it all located in one place so I know where to come back. We'll call this post a home-base for my list-making-tendencies!


Definition of Information Literacy from Wikipedia

The National Forum on Information Literacy defines information literacy as “...the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand.” ^[1][2] This is the most common definition; however, others do exist. For example, another conception defines it in terms of a set of competencies that an informed citizen of an information society ought to possess to participate intelligently and actively in that society.
A number of efforts have been made to better define the concept and its relationship to other skills and forms of literacy. Although other educational goals, including traditional literacy, computer literacy, library skills, and critical thinking skills, are related to information literacy and important foundations for its development, information literacy itself is emerging as a distinct skill set and a necessary key to one's social and economic well-being in an increasingly complex information society.^[3]

What's my Question?

Is the Google Generation the real deal or a flash in the pan? If their mode of learning really is different from their forebears is it worth considering a revamping in the educational system to make it so or are we making a mountain out of a mole-hill, so-to-speak? 

To answer this question I need to look at the following threads:

WHO is the Google Generation?
WHY are they different? (psychologically? educationally? attention span? goals?)
WHAT can we do to encourage them to be MORE?

Search Terms

• "Google Generation" and "Information Literacy" and "Instruction"
• "Millenials"/"Net Generation"/"Net Geners"/"digital native"/"digital immigrant"/"Generation ME"/"Generation MySpace"
• "Information Literacy"/"Literacy"/"digital literacy"/"computer literacy"

Definitions: Who does this new generation encompass?

• Google Generation - Born after 1993
• Net-Geners (Tapscott) Age range 2-22 in 2002
• Today's Generation (Prensky) Kindergarten through College (Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning)

Inherent Problems

• Who am I searching for actually? 
• Does anyone have a concrete term for these tech-kids?!
• What exactly IS information literacy? is digital literacy the same thing only strictly focused on using tech to teach? 
• So many different ideas of information literacy... this could be a real problem since I'm trying to define it within research. :( 

Questions

• Who is the Google Generation?
• Is the Google Generation really "smarter" than their forebears?
• Superficial intelligence or hope for the future? Or both?
• What makes them different? ARE they different? PROOF!
• How are they learning differently? PROOF
• How do they SHOW they're learning and processing information for differently? PROOF
• Is this a permanent "condition" or is this merely a flash in the pan? Shooting Star?
• Does the education system seem prepared to handle this new type of learner?

Reading to Sort Through
http://www.manifestoformediaeducation.co.uk/2011/01/media-education-should-be-3/

Tapscott, Prensky, Net Gens--Oh My!

I've had some time to really sink my teeth into the big thinkers regarding the Net-Generation (or Google Generation, Millenials, "Digital Natives") and you just get around the presence of Marc Prensky and Don Tapscott's work in all circles regarding this new generation of tech-savvy digicoms. :)

I picked up a few of their books (below).

Mr. Tapscott is an internationally sought authority, consultant and speaker on business strategy and organizational transformation. His clients include top executives of many of the world’s largest corporations and government leaders from many countries. The Washington Technology Report says he is one of the most influential media authorities since Marshall McLuhan.

Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
 

 Tapscott found inspiration for this book from the N-Geners themselves--the Growing Up Digital Kids which was published as a result of findings from a research team led by Kate Baggott. Her team led discussions on the Net with about 300 youngsters between the ages of 4 and 20 over a one-year period. This book won the first Amazon.com Bestseller Award in the summer of 1998. It has been "recommended for all libraries" by the Library Journal. Time Magazine Senior Editor, Joshua Cooper Ramo, describes GROWING UP DIGITAL as a "compellingly written look at the generation that will make it all happen." It has been translated into 14 languages and was released in paperback in May, 1999.


Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up digital: How the net generation is changing your world. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 

Tapscott continues his work with how he believes the net generation is changing the world as we know it. His material for this book was inspired by a $4 million research project, "The Net Generation: a Strategic Investigation" which was funded by large companies under the parent company New Paradigm, founded by Tapscott in 1993. Tapscott's group interviewed close to 9,442 people (including the Net Generation, baby boomers (aged 42 to 61), and Gen Xers (aged 30-41) composed of randomly selected internet users, stratified to avoid any gender or socioeconomic biases. Interviews were done through an online questionnaire and what he essentially argues is that the net-geners simply, "have different brains" due to the way they learn from the age of 8-18 in a time which he calls, "extended adolescence". Unlike the generations prior who've passively sat back and accepted to be simply broadcast to, this new generation has been participating in collaborative environments made possible by the rise of technology over the years. His book talks about who the net-geners are, how they're transforming institutions, and how they're transforming society. 


Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon. 9(5). 1-6. doi:10.1108/10748120110424816

Marc Prensky is an internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, consultant, and designer
in the critical areas of education and learning. His original paper referenced above has come up in citations of other later papers throughout much of my research on the “Digital Natives”. The first part of his article, highlights how students today think and process information fundamentally different from their predecessors as a result of being constantly immersed by new technology.

On the Horizon is a self-proclaimed “strategic planning resource for education professionals”. Lesson planning for the digital native is such a hot topic because we’re getting into the generational gap between digital natives (those born after 1980) who are students technologically surpassing their teachers (digital immigrants – pre 1980) in an increasingly technological world. This is probably one of the older reference works I’m including in my term paper, but Prensky seemed to influential in many other peer-reviewed articles, I had to pay him some homage and quote the original sources of information from the other papers I’ve come across.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants part 2: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon. 9(6). 1-6. doi:10.1108/10748120110424843.

In this second part of Marc Prensky’s paper exploring the differences between “digital natives” and “digital immigrants”, he presents evidence to support these differences from neurology, social psychology and from studies done on children using games for learning.

Prensky makes his living speaking and writing about the digital generation, but at the end of the day, he does primarily sell learning software for educational gaming. His viewpoints in both of the referenced articles discuss why video gaming is good for this new generation of learners and I’m not really focusing my paper on how digital natives learn, but really what attributes they imbue in terms of learning, education and research in that they’re different from their predecessors. That Prensky is attempting to back up his claims with science is interesting to me and I will use his research in terms of supporting my claims that this new digital generation learns differently from their teachers. Prensky claims that the difference between the digital native student and his digital immigrant teacher is the root of a great many of today’s educational problems.  

Prensky, M. (2006). Don't bother me mom--I'm learning! St. Paul, MN: Paragon House

I still have yet to read the above referenced book because I'm nose deep in my Tapscott's books but I'm getting around to it and will update when I finally have a summary on it!

I learn, You Learn, We Learn... Right?

I'm fascinated by the research I'm digging up on the Google Generation. I'm going to use this term interchangeably with the terms: Millenials, N-Geners, and Digital Natives. We're looking at an age range of those born after 1993 or, according to Don Tapscott "people who were between the age of 2 and 22 in 2002".



That age range would include me.

What I'm basically uncovering is that many researchers in the field consider my generation of tech-infused youngsters to be mere skimmers of information. Before I endanger myself of over-generalizing, I'm going to have to ask: "Is this true of myself?" If it is, I don't know if I really like what I'm hearing and reading.

One of the key themes I'll have to discuss in my research paper is going to have to be:

Who makes up the Google Generation?
What are their characteristics?
How is technology involved in this trend?
So what's the problem?
Google Generation: Hope for the Future or Shooting Stars?
Is a reformation in the educational system needed?

In my research, I came across a quote by John Dewey, Educator & Philosopher: "If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow". I'm going to have to print this out and hang it over my desk while I consider how the Google Generation fits into our society.

Are they really expressing learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared? Are they really different from their predecessors? Do we need to change the way we teach them or the way we perceive the skill sets the Google Generation does bring to all aspects of our world as we know it? I keep hearing McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message" ideas sounding off in my head even more now that I'm looking at ways in which the Web has really changed the way we access information and subsequently how we internalize information and turn it into knowledge.