Blended Learning and the Generations Chuck Dziuban Joel Hartman Patsy Moskal University of Central Florida

Some characteristics of the generations  Matures (prior to 1946)  Dedicated to a job they take on  Respectful of authority  Place duty before pleasure  Baby boomers ( )  Live to work  Generally optimistic  Influence on policy & products  Generation X ( )  Work to live  Clear & consistent expectations  Value contributing to the whole  Millennials ( )  Live in the moment  Expect immediacy of technology  Earn money for immediate consumption

Technology is anything invented after you were born* Video games PCs Commands Mailing lists Cassettes Video games PCs Commands Mailing lists Cassettes Gen - Xers The Web Mobile devices KWM interface IM, blogs Virtual communities CDs, MP3s The Web Mobile devices KWM interface IM, blogs Virtual communities CDs, MP3s MillennialsMillennialsBoomersBoomers TV Mainframes PLATO Telephones Party lines LPs TV Mainframes PLATO Telephones Party lines LPs * Alan Kay

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

Millennials: today’s learners  Diverse  Mobile  Always connected  Experiential  Multitasking  Community-oriented  Digitally literate

Media literacy  10,000 hours playing video games  Sent/received 200,000 s  20,000 hours watching TV  10,000 hours on a cell phone  Under 5,000 hours reading By age 21, today’s college students will have spent: – Prensky, s Video Games Reading Television Cell Phone

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

College Internet use  79% – Internet has a positive impact on academic experience  73% – Use the Internet more than the library for research  72% – Check every day  60% – Internet has improved relationships with classmates (56% – professors)  46% – Can express ideas they would not have expressed in class – Jones, 2002

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 ― or phone for longer communication  Home computer is a repository of important information; other devices (laptop, PDA) transport the material --Lextant, 2003

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 ability to customize ―Engaging learning experiences  Satisfaction levels decreasing with each successive generation

Millennials: the up side  Goal oriented  Positive attitudes  Collaborative style  Multitasking  Technologically savvy  Learn by tinkering ―Raines, 2002

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

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

UCF’s top down and bottom up approach

The generations in blended courses (N=18,732)

Students very satisfied with blended learning by generation (N=491)

Changed approach to learning by generation (N=491)

Web definitely made interaction easier (N=491)

Students’ positive perceptions about blended learning Convenience Reduced logistic demands Increased learning flexibility Technology-enhanced learning Reduced Opportunity Costs for Education

Students’ less positive perceptions about blended learning Reduced face-to-face time Technology problems Reduced instructor assistance Increased workload Increased Opportunity Costs for Education

College Level Academic Skills Tests (CLAST) English scores N= 16,293

College Level Academic Skills Tests (CLAST) Math scores N= 15,812

Upper undergraduate success rate n=447 n=4,330 n=2,172

Upper undergraduate withdrawal rate n=465 n=4,530 n=2,250

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.”

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

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)

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

What does it mean to students?  Blended learning is inwardly directed and can potentially impact all of the institution’s 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

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

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)

Contacts Dr. Chuck Dziuban (407) Dr. Joel L. Hartman (407) Dr. Patsy Moskal (407)

DISCUSSION