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<\/a> Figure 6.3 Learner characteristics[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nProbably nothing more reflects teaching\u00a0in a digital age than the change in learner characteristics from the industrial age.\r\npublic<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>post-secondary institutions are expected to represent the same kind of socio-economic and cultural diversity as in society at large, rather than being institutions reserved for an elite minority<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nIn an age where economic development is tightly associated with higher\u00a0levels of education, the goal now is to bring as many students as possible to the standards required, rather than focus on just the needs of the most able students. This means finding ways of helping a very wide range of students with very different levels of\u00a0ability and\/or prior knowledge to succeed. One size clearly does not fit all today.\u00a0<\/span>Dealing with an increasingly diverse student population is perhaps the greatest of all challenges then that teachers and instructors face in a digital age, particularly but not exclusively at a post-secondary level. This\u00a0is not something for which instructors primarily qualified in subject matter expertise are well prepared.\r\n\r\nA\u00a0combination of good design and an appropriate use of technology will greatly facilitate the personalization of learning, allowing for instance for different students to work at different speeds, and to focus learning on students' specific interests and needs, thus ensuring engagement and motivation for a diverse range of students. However, the first and perhaps most important step is for instructors to know their students, and in particular, to identify from the vast range of information regarding students and their differences, which are\u00a0the most important for\u00a0the design of teaching and learning in a digital age. I list some of the characteristics that I think are\u00a0important from the perspective of designing teaching.\r\n 1. How would you characterise the students you are teaching: full-time students from high school; students who are working part-time; or students working full-time? How would a typical class of yours break down between these three groups? Do you have the information necessary to do this analysis?<\/p>\r\n 2. Do you think students think or study differently these days because of social media? How does that affect their studying? Do you feel you need to respond in some way to this?<\/p>\r\n 3. How much variance is there between your students in prior knowledge and\/or language ability? How does this affect the way you teach?<\/p>\r\n You may want to read Chapter 9, Section 2<\/a> and Chapter 10, Section 3<\/a>\u00a0before you answer\u00a0these questions.<\/p>\r\n This exercise is mainly for your reflection, but I do have a few comments on these issues in the podcast below:<\/p>\r\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/teachinginadigitalagev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/677\/2014\/09\/Student-characteristics-2-2019-08-15-12.14-PM.mp3\"][\/audio]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n <\/p>\n Probably nothing more reflects teaching\u00a0in a digital age than the change in learner characteristics from the industrial age.<\/p>\n I noted in\u00a0<\/span>Chapter 1 (Section 6<\/span>)<\/a>\u00a0that in developed countries such as Canada:<\/span><\/p>\n public<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>post-secondary institutions are expected to represent the same kind of socio-economic and cultural diversity as in society at large, rather than being institutions reserved for an elite minority<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In an age where economic development is tightly associated with higher\u00a0levels of education, the goal now is to bring as many students as possible to the standards required, rather than focus on just the needs of the most able students. This means finding ways of helping a very wide range of students with very different levels of\u00a0ability and\/or prior knowledge to succeed. One size clearly does not fit all today.\u00a0<\/span>Dealing with an increasingly diverse student population is perhaps the greatest of all challenges then that teachers and instructors face in a digital age, particularly but not exclusively at a post-secondary level. This\u00a0is not something for which instructors primarily qualified in subject matter expertise are well prepared.<\/p>\n A\u00a0combination of good design and an appropriate use of technology will greatly facilitate the personalization of learning, allowing for instance for different students to work at different speeds, and to focus learning on students’ specific interests and needs, thus ensuring engagement and motivation for a diverse range of students. However, the first and perhaps most important step is for instructors to know their students, and in particular, to identify from the vast range of information regarding students and their differences, which are\u00a0the most important for\u00a0the design of teaching and learning in a digital age. I list some of the characteristics that I think are\u00a0important from the perspective of designing teaching.<\/p>\n Two factors make the work and home context\u00a0an important consideration in the design of teaching and learning: students are increasingly working while studying (about half of all\u00a0Canadian post-secondary students also work, and those that do work\u00a0average 16 hours a week –\u00a0Marshall, 2010<\/a>); and the age range of students continues to spread, with the average age of students slowly increasing\u00a0(in 2016, at the University of British Columbia Vancouver, the average age of undergraduates was 21, and the mean age for graduate students\u00a0 was\u00a031 –\u00a0UBC, 2017<\/a><\/span>.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There are several reasons for the average age of students increasing, at least in North America:<\/p>\n Partly or fully employed students, or students with families, increasingly need\u00a0more flexibility in their studying, and especially avoiding long commutes between home, work and college. These students increasingly want\u00a0hybrid or fully online courses, and smaller modules, certificates or programs that they can fit around their work and family life.<\/p>\n Understanding the motivation of students and what they expect to get out of a course or program should also influence the design of a course or program.\u00a0For academic learning, it is often necessary to find ways to move students whose approach to learning is initially driven by extrinsic rewards such as grades or qualifications to\u00a0an approach that engages and motivates students in the subject matter itself. Potential students already with a post-secondary qualification and a good job may not want to work through a pre-determined set of courses\u00a0but may want just specific areas of content from existing courses, tailored to meet their needs (for instance, on demand and delivered online). Thus it is important to have some kind of knowledge or understanding of why learners are likely to take your course\u00a0or program, and what they are hoping to get out of it.<\/p>\n Future learning often depends on students having prior knowledge or an ability to do things at a certain level. Teachers aim to bridge the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help, what Vygotsky (1978) termed the zone of proximal development. If\u00a0the difficulty level of the\u00a0teaching is aimed too far beyond the capability or prior knowledge and skills of a learner,\u00a0then learning fails to occur.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the more diverse the students in a program, the more diverse the knowledge and skill levels they are likely to bring with them. Indeed, lifelong learners, or new immigrants repeating\u00a0a subject because their foreign qualifications are not recognised, may bring specialist or advanced knowledge that can be drawn on to enrich the learning experience for everyone. At the same time, some\u00a0students may not have the same basic knowledge as others in a course and will need more help. In such a context it is important\u00a0to design the learning experience so that it is flexible enough to accommodate students with\u00a0a wide range of\u00a0prior knowledge and skills.<\/p>\n Most students today\u00a0have grown up with digital technologies such as mobile phones, tablets and social media, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis.\u00a0\u00a0Prensky (2010<\/a>) and others (e.g. Tapscott, 2008<\/a>) argue that not only are such students\u00a0more proficient in using such technologies\u00a0than previous generations, but that they also think differently (Tapscott, 2008<\/a>).<\/p>\n However, it\u00a0is particularly important to understand that students themselves vary a great deal in their use of social media and new technologies, that their use is largely driven by social and personal demands, and their use of digital technologies does not naturally flow across into educational use. They will use new technologies and social media for learning though where instructors make a good case for it and when students can see that the use of digital media will directly help them in their studies. For this to happen though deliberate design choices are required on the part of the instructor. (For more on the issue of digital natives, see Chapter 9, Section 2.3<\/a>)<\/p>\n The work and home context, learners’ goals, and students’\u00a0prior knowledge and skills (including their competence with digital media) are some of the critical factors that should influence the design of teaching. For some\u00a0instructors, other characteristics of learners, such as learning styles, gender differences or cultural background, may be more important, depending on the context. Whatever the context, good design in teaching requires good information about the learners we are going to teach, and in particular good design needs to address the increasing diversity of our students.<\/p>\n Marshall, K. (2011) Employment patterns of post-secondary students<\/a>, Ottawa: Statistics Canada<\/i><\/p>\n Prensky, M. (2001) \u2018<\/span>Digital natives, Digital Immigrant<\/a>s<\/em>\u2019 On the Horizon Vol. 9, No. 5<\/span><\/p>\n Tapscott, D. (2008) Grown Up Digital<\/em><\/a> New York: McGraw Hill<\/p>\n University of British Columbia (2017) 2016\/2017 Annual Report on Enrolment<\/em> <\/a>Vancouver BC: University of British Columbia<\/p>\n Vygotsky, L. (1978) <\/span>Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processe<\/a>s<\/em> Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press<\/span><\/p>\n 1. How would you characterise the students you are teaching: full-time students from high school; students who are working part-time; or students working full-time? How would a typical class of yours break down between these three groups? Do you have the information necessary to do this analysis?<\/p>\n 2. Do you think students think or study differently these days because of social media? How does that affect their studying? Do you feel you need to respond in some way to this?<\/p>\n 3. How much variance is there between your students in prior knowledge and\/or language ability? How does this affect the way you teach?<\/p>\n You may want to read Chapter 9, Section 2<\/a> and Chapter 10, Section 3<\/a>\u00a0before you answer\u00a0these questions.<\/p>\n This exercise is mainly for your reflection, but I do have a few comments on these issues in the podcast below:<\/p>\n6.3.2 The work and home context<\/h2>\r\nTwo factors make the work and home context\u00a0an important consideration in the design of teaching and learning: students are increasingly working while studying (about half of all\u00a0Canadian post-secondary students also work, and those that do work\u00a0average 16 hours a week -\u00a0Marshall, 2010<\/a>); and the age range of students continues to spread, with the average age of students slowly increasing\u00a0(in 2016, at the University of British Columbia Vancouver, the average age of undergraduates was 21, and the mean age for graduate students\u00a0 was\u00a031 -\u00a0UBC, 2017<\/a><\/span>.)<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThere are several reasons for the average age of students increasing, at least in North America:\r\n
\r\n \t
6.3.3 Learners' goals<\/h2>\r\nUnderstanding the motivation of students and what they expect to get out of a course or program should also influence the design of a course or program.\u00a0For academic learning, it is often necessary to find ways to move students whose approach to learning is initially driven by extrinsic rewards such as grades or qualifications to\u00a0an approach that engages and motivates students in the subject matter itself. Potential students already with a post-secondary qualification and a good job may not want to work through a pre-determined set of courses\u00a0but may want just specific areas of content from existing courses, tailored to meet their needs (for instance, on demand and delivered online). Thus it is important to have some kind of knowledge or understanding of why learners are likely to take your course\u00a0or program, and what they are hoping to get out of it.\r\n
6.3.4 Prior knowledge or skills<\/h2>\r\nFuture learning often depends on students having prior knowledge or an ability to do things at a certain level. Teachers aim to bridge the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help, what Vygotsky (1978) termed the zone of proximal development. If\u00a0the difficulty level of the\u00a0teaching is aimed too far beyond the capability or prior knowledge and skills of a learner,\u00a0then learning fails to occur.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHowever, the more diverse the students in a program, the more diverse the knowledge and skill levels they are likely to bring with them. Indeed, lifelong learners, or new immigrants repeating\u00a0a subject because their foreign qualifications are not recognised, may bring specialist or advanced knowledge that can be drawn on to enrich the learning experience for everyone. At the same time, some\u00a0students may not have the same basic knowledge as others in a course and will need more help. In such a context it is important\u00a0to design the learning experience so that it is flexible enough to accommodate students with\u00a0a wide range of\u00a0prior knowledge and skills.\r\n
6.3.5 Digital natives<\/h2>\r\nMost students today\u00a0have grown up with digital technologies such as mobile phones, tablets and social media, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis.\u00a0\u00a0Prensky (2010<\/a>) and others (e.g. Tapscott, 2008<\/a>) argue that not only are such students\u00a0more proficient in using such technologies\u00a0than previous generations, but that they also think differently (Tapscott, 2008<\/a>).\r\n\r\nHowever, it\u00a0is particularly important to understand that students themselves vary a great deal in their use of social media and new technologies, that their use is largely driven by social and personal demands, and their use of digital technologies does not naturally flow across into educational use. They will use new technologies and social media for learning though where instructors make a good case for it and when students can see that the use of digital media will directly help them in their studies. For this to happen though deliberate design choices are required on the part of the instructor. (For more on the issue of digital natives, see Chapter 9, Section 2.3<\/a>)\r\n
6.3.6 In conclusion<\/h2>\r\nThe work and home context, learners' goals, and students'\u00a0prior knowledge and skills (including their competence with digital media) are some of the critical factors that should influence the design of teaching. For some\u00a0instructors, other characteristics of learners, such as learning styles, gender differences or cultural background, may be more important, depending on the context. Whatever the context, good design in teaching requires good information about the learners we are going to teach, and in particular good design needs to address the increasing diversity of our students.\r\n
References<\/h2>\r\nMarshall, K. (2011) Employment patterns of post-secondary students<\/a>, Ottawa: Statistics Canada<\/i>\r\n\r\nPrensky, M. (2001) \u2018<\/span>Digital natives, Digital Immigrant<\/a>s<\/em>\u2019 On the Horizon Vol. 9, No. 5<\/span>\r\n\r\nTapscott, D. (2008) Grown Up Digital<\/em><\/a> New York: McGraw Hill\r\n\r\nUniversity of British Columbia (2017) 2016\/2017 Annual Report on Enrolment<\/em> <\/a>Vancouver BC: University of British Columbia\r\n\r\nVygotsky, L. (1978) <\/span>Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processe<\/a>s<\/em> Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press<\/span>\r\n
\r\nActivity 6.3 Who are your students?<\/h3>\r\n
<\/h3>","rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n6.3.1 Increased diversity<\/h2>\n
6.3.2 The work and home context<\/h2>\n
\n
6.3.3 Learners’ goals<\/h2>\n
6.3.4 Prior knowledge or skills<\/h2>\n
6.3.5 Digital natives<\/h2>\n
6.3.6 In conclusion<\/h2>\n
References<\/h2>\n
\nActivity 6.3 Who are your students?<\/h3>\n