Dede New Millienia

Notes on Dede Reviewed Neomillenia paper in educause 2005

"Rapid advances in information technology are reshaping the learning styles of many students in higher education. "  [Are the student's learning styles really changing and technology adapating to them or is technology forcing learner's into new styles]

Learner's changing learning styles is contested by other author's [Bennet paper]

Further in the paper he states "However, the growing prevalence of interfaces to virtual environments and augmented realities is beginning to fos- ter neomillennial learning styles"

Not to be facetious with words but to foster is to "encourage or promote the development of" The question is which is driving which?

are also assessing how immersive virtual environments influence participants’ learning styles

the world-to-the-desktop interface is not psychologically immersive,

This immersion in virtual environments and augmented reali- ties shapes participants’ learning styles

Rather than having core identities defined through a primarily local set of roles and relationships, people would express varied aspects of their multifaceted identities through alter- nate extended experiences in distrib- uted virtual environments and aug- mented realities.

Rheingold painted a largely positive picture of this “social revolution,” while articulating some concerns about privacy, quality of life, and loss of humanity.

Klopfer and I plan to initiate studies on how immersion in MUVEs comple- ments that in augmented realities and how each type of learning accommo- dates participants’ learning styles.

Communal learning [VS example of 3 kids using computer converted to one-on-one computer use and interacting via avatar vs Suagata Mitras kids 3 lines deep teaching each other] 

While the content of these games and activities often does not lead to knowledge useful in the real world, rich types of learning and identity formation do take place in these environments, fostering neomillennial learning styles based on characteristics of immersive mediated interaction.

[Take the positive but cannot ignore the stats of problematic usage]

Invoking such multi-tasking to get homework doen but not seeing how well the homework was done is anecdotal.

Virtual identity will be unfettered by physical attributes such as gender, race, or disabilities.

(authoring a simulation and a Web page to express understanding of an internship, for example, rather than authoring a paper that synthe- sizes expert opinions).

[why could the student not author a paper showing understanding – because it is a paper and not on the web? On the web they have also been shown to not show transfer – vs paper. Just cos in Virtual environment does not mean learning will occur]

These ideas are admittedly specula- tive rather than based on extensive evidence. The technologies discussed are emerging rather than mature, so their final form and their influences on users are not fully understood. However, anticipating the effects of shifts in stu- dents’ learning styles is important, and the ideas above may serve to begin a dialogue about implications.

As the nature of students alters, instructors must themselves experience mediated immersion and develop neo- millennial learning styles to continue effective teaching.