I see many younger students do the same "find the answer and move on" without really investigating the subject question thoroughly. Often they click on the first or second response from a search engine and that is the correct answer in their minds and do not question it.
I use the computer and search engines to find information as well, it seems my thirst for information wants to find both sides of a topic and then I bounce it off others for additional input, especially if another person has experience with a given concept. The "Digital Reliance" students don’t seem to have the focus to do much more than move on to the next topic and erase what they may have just learned from their memory.
I agree that google makes it difficult for retention. On the other hand, if a student wants to look something up, i find it helpful to challenge their findings and present the answer that i've looked up in an actual book. This solidifies traditional sources of information finding vs. the unreliable and often incorrect content on the internet.
Lauren,
I think this is a great strategy & can also help them learn which are the more reliable sites on the internet & which should probably just be avoided.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I see this as the most difficult problem to overcome when teaching this generation of students. Why learn something when you can just Google it? Some things must be learned. When you take board exams you can't Google. If learning and understandng doesn't happen there is no chance of passing national boards which are required before being hired in the jobs they were supposed to be training for.
I think there is definitely less of an interest and need to "know" things that can be easily looked up and that extends to a reluctance to learn things that are not needed or can easily be looked up. For example its common to learn the state capitals as a child growing up, but such knowledge in general is not often useful as an adult as a fact needing to be recalled. It is however important to have general knowledge about the world and geography in general.
Marcus,
yes, I have had a little struggle in helping my Gen Y students realize that some information is important, even if it won't be on the test.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I think that is true to a large degree. That, and information changes so often in our career college field that I try to concentrate more on information-finding and critical thinking.
John,
I think this is a great approach to help our students in this area of technology usage.
Dr. Ryan Meers
After reviewing the posting above I am in agreement 50/50. We as instructors or teachers need to harness the power that comes with the use of Google and use it to our benefit instead of allowing students to have the upper hand. Recommend setting a limited parameter usage so they can focus in on the subject.
this not caring about the details is becoming a big problem with the gen Y students.the thought that everything can be looked up on google is false we are a tech school so we have to get them to learn a concept before they can fix anything.
I think this is one of the challenges of all age groups, not jsut Gen Y students. Many students are mainly interested in the piece of paper (diploma) that comes with completing their degree program, and they are not as interested in the learning piece (or if they are interested, they lack time due to work/family commmitments). But, to your question about Gen Y students, I find that they would rather use Google to locate an immediate answer to a question (and pick the first search result), then to take the time to appropriately research a question through more legitimate sources (such as an online journal database).
I also agree that "y'ers" tend to not retain information the way previous generations do. I beleive we have created this environment since if they forget something, it is very easy to look it up again. To some benefit, they may find that the information has changed and at least you are looking at the latest and greatest views that may have overwritten the history books you would find in a library or encyclopedia.
I am new to the instructing world and having just left the working force as a diesel technician found that just being able to simply navigate websites put me leaps ahead of my older cohorts. Almost all of the manufacturers that the diesel field is involved with have gone to web based manuals and web based training. So now I stress to students of the importance of finding the proper correct information when needed. In the technician world thier are lots of manufacturers and lots of specs to remember. Where to find those specs is key.
Daniel,
yes and sometimes the greatest value we can provide these students is helping them learn how to discern what is good & valuable info & what is not so reliable.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Because of Google I strongly believe more Gen Y people have a greater knowledge base and sense of whats going on in the world than previous generations had.
The only problem I see if suddenly the lights turned out or Google and other search engine somehow ceased to exist. Gen Y would have a harder time looking up information the old fashioned way.
This is more than a generational problem. It has broad implications for education, and for society in general. Clearly we have moved beyond the age when it was reasonable to require students to memorize state capitals. They can get that info in the blink of an eye using technology. However,some factual information is essential in order to understand causes and effects, or the implications and significance of many things. Why was the Civil War really fought? How does the current technological revolution compare with the agricultural and industrial revolutions? What must a person do to become indispensable in our global marketplace? There is a real value in using knowledge to make choices, and much of that knowledge is not the kind that can be Googled. Also, think of how many of our students see no value in reading chapters in a book, since they can more quickly find "answers" on line. How are we as educators to show them the importance of crucial information? Heck, how are we even supposed to identify it?
I don't see google as a problem. How is google any different than a library? The internet and google is like any library, it is full of both fiction and non-fiction written by people. Then internet and google makes the library of old more portable and useful.
robert,
I tend to agree overall. I personally don't think the problem is with Google or Wikipedia for that matter, it is in how the information is received. Students must be taught to be critical thinkers & evaluate what they are reading, hearing, etc. But this is no different than previous generations, there just seems to be even more information.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
In my experience with teaching Gen Y students, they use the instant information found online in a positive way. I find that they are well aware that not all returns found about a subject online is accurate and can filter out misinformation. I do on the other hand stress that the internet is just one of many recourses that they should be consulting for information.
Robert,
yes, often these students do a good job of filtering & we have the opportunity to develop those skills even further.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
