We open the June/July issue of Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) with two
articles that resume the discussion of the Net Generation from our previous
issue—but with very different assessments of the educational playing
field. In addressing the needs of this population, Donald Philip proposes a
model of education that acknowledges the sociocultural changes wrought by
new technological tools, taps into the virtualization of knowledge arising
from such tools, and fashions learning environments based on small,
flexible groups that resemble the small teams currently used by
institutions in the business world. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=368 )
However, Sarah Lohnes and Charles Kinzer caution that our assumptions about
the Net Generation may often be based on generalizations that do not
sufficiently address contextual differences from one population to the
next. Their ethnographic study found that while liberal arts students
relied extensively on technology in their everyday lives, they remained
resistant to in-class technology use and instead endorsed a traditional
model of education based on interpersonal contact with the instructor. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=431 )
While debates about the Net Generation will continue, instructors are also
addressing these questions through innovative forms of pedagogical
practice. Helen Sword and Michelle Leggott discuss how their students used
online tools to preserve literary texts from university archives while also
exploring the potential of such tools to support new, collaborative forms
of creative expression in cyberspace. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=389 )
Edward Gehringer, Luke Ehresman, Susan G. Conger, and Prasad Wagle offer an
account of how a custom-designed software product was used in computer
science courses to support the construction of peer-reviewed learning
objects by the students themselves, which can in turn be assessed,
modified, or supplemented by future students in the same course, thereby
allowing students to take ownership of their learning to an entirely new
level. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=365 )
Bill Gibbs and Erik Larson illustrate the use of a videoconferencing system
to deliver highly detailed forms of instruction in courses focusing on
multimedia design and software design for online and hybrid courses. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=388
Meanwhile, future innovations in pedagogy and instructional design will
continue to rely upon effective, well-planned faculty development and
teacher training programs. In his account of faculty development efforts at
Bronx Community College, Howard Wach outlines how these efforts evolved
through three major formats—two-hour technology workshops,
semester-long workshops, and a one-week summer program—and he
describes the respective challenges and advantages afforded by each format.
(See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=424 )
We close this issue with an article by Kathleen Roney and MaryAnn Davies,
who describe how they employed a Web-based communications tool to promote
standards-based instruction, foster reflective practice and focused
mentoring, and facilitate the development of electronic portfolios to help
teacher education interns bridge the gap between their training and their
classroom practice. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=294 )
Finally, please do not forget the Innovate-Live Seminar Series beginning
Tuesday, June 5 through Friday, June 8, 2007. The seminar program and
registration (free) is available at our Innovate-Live portal at
http://www.uliveandlearn.com/PortalInnovate/
Please forward this announcement to appropriate mailing lists and to
colleagues who want to use IT tools to advance their work. Ask your
organizational librarian to link to Innovate in their resource section for
open-access e-journals.
Thanks!
Jim
----
James L. Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership
UNC-Chapel Hill
http://horizon.unc.edu