The Nomadic Learner
Why is this generation of students often referred to as "nomadic" learners?
I always worry when an academic decides to hijack a term from another discipline to apply to their topic. In this case the anthropological term "nomad" applied to modern, middle and upper class western kids. A nomadic people cycle around a set of locations depending on "the availability of food supply and the technology to exploit it." [Encyclopædia Britannica] So, the driving force for real nomads is physical survival.
To call kids using wireless apps on mobile devices "nomads", misses a vital element of what a nomad is, and really trivializes the issues of the real nomadic peoples of the world.
However, in one very key sense these kids are like nomads. I find that the kids using their mobile devices and computers cycle through the same sites and rarely, if ever, wander outside them. They stay in their comfort zones. For example, even though the school provides the students with access to a wealth of alternative sources of research, when I assign a research assignment, I invariably get Wikipedia references. I would be so happy to see them, without my prompting, search outside of their comfortable cycle of sites.
Hi Thomas,
Yes, that's an interesting discussion - it is true we "hijack" terms from various disciplines in academia...in fact, knowledge construction is really about exploring concepts for the sake of understanding. Much happens to support understanding and often terms pop up in various
contexts but with slightly different meanings - thus your reference to "hijacking" :)
Regarding young people and their use of digital and mobile media - my sense is that while young users of these technologies may be knowledgeable about the actual functions of the technology, they still have to be taught academic skills like research. Therefore although we as teachers may be playing catch up, or feel like it sometimes with technology use, we still are the ones who must guide the learning process and develop those academic skills not yet developed in our students.
This generation of students was brought up with technology. It begain with the television interactive learning shows and "mini" computer learning games. As the technology improved, the students became more accustomed to using it as an extension of their learning.
This generation of students has experienced open and instant communication on a regular basis. They can access the web any time and nearly any where. The cyber cafes are a reflection of a competitive selling edge for these students. They want to be connected all the time and will seek places that support that need.
The growth of the online learning environment is a prime example of the felxibility of being able to take classes where, when, and how they want them. They consider learning an extension of "living" as oppose to putting life on hold to study.
Great comments, Glenda. I love how you say that learning is an extension of living these days - which provides a wonderful "experiential" learning opportunity that Dewey and others theorized about and worked so hard to construct. We can meet students already involved in many different social communities and simply expand ther ideas of community into the academic world and demonstrate academic benefits to the same approach. The same goes for so much technology our students already know...
My first contact with this word was several years - used to describe African Cattle Rearers who moved from place to place as they searched for a grazing place for their cattle.
In this connection, the anology is made between students who are mobile and who have the flexibility to learn from almost anywhere - just like the North or East African normads who move about from place to place with their cattle.
The virtual life culture of these students are dynamic rather than static and the tool here is wireless connection.
Thanks.
Hello Thomas,
I appreciate your insights on this subject. Among other things, you asserted that:
"To call kids using wireless apps on mobile devices "nomads", misses a vital element of what a nomad is, and really trivializes the issues of the real nomadic peoples of the world."
Just wondering if you can throw a little bit more light on what this missing vital element is. Thanks.
I like you connection, Alex. I was born in the DRCongo in the Ituri forest and the forest people also move around from place to place as needed. They build community where they are and facilitate their survival and growth through their nomadic lifestyle. Similarly, today's students have a different idea of community and really have an immediate sense of connection that those of us (referring to myself here) who are pre-PC and pre-digital don't share. That is our challenge as instructors in this digital world - to accommodate diversity in community building while at the same time directing and guiding those communities into communities of learning that share strong ideas and build new knowledge.
True nomads are moving due to survival and economic needs. It is not a "lifestyle" it is a way of making a living--finding food and water and the other necessities of life.
Applying the term "nomad" to kids who have the luxury to move around (physically and electronically) because they have the disposable income to own personal mobile devices, have the free time to spend updating facebook pages, and have the ability to twitter away their time tweeting about their latest purchase or dates, just misses that mark.
Yes, as teachers/instructors whose goal is to assist in learning, we should understand and accomodate the life of our students/trainees, but, also as teachers/instructors, we should be aware of the peoples of the rest of the world.
Hi Thomas,
Like most language evolutions of meaning, this use is not a literal use but a rhetorical reference to similarities in movement/mobility only. That is, today's students are not "grounded" as individuals once were when it comes to connection and networking. Currently, instructors should be aware that connectivity is continuous and now wireless and mobile. That opens wide more opportunity than we've ever had before to guide students and support them through their learning journey.
Today's learners access their learning material variety of different ways in a variety of different times at variety of different places. They may access their class via mobile device during a lunch break or from their work desktop computer during a work break. They may then log in using their home laptop during the evening from home. Therefore, they are nomanic in their way of moving a lot. On another hand, people tend to relocate and travel a lot these days as well and this further adds to the nomadic nature of learners.
Yes, Tami, these are very true characteristics of today's learners. The challenge for the instructor, then, is to remember this when designing a course and delivering course content.
Today's younger learners have had the internet at their fingertips the majority of their lives and are very comfortable accessing the information that they need from not only the internet in different ways but they are also used to “working” at varied times thanks to the internet on cell phones as well.
My nieces who are now in high school have been being taught how to research on the internet since junior high. They are all in band and in sports (swimming & diving) and when they miss school for a meet or a concert they actually access their high school via their cells or the internet in order to obtain their homework assignments. This allows them to stay caught up while on the road for sporting events.
Generation Y, The Net-Generation, etc. whatever phrase we use are nomanic in their way due to their access to the net and through their teachers who are also integrating this mobile technology to keep them in touch with their classes.
For someone like myself who lives in a rural area and who travels a lot, online instruction and classes were exactly what I needed in order to be able to reach my educational goals. There are times when I look at the first online classes being held through newsgroups I think this was the beginning of creating this nomadic learning society that we have today.
Thank you,
Dawn
Great points, Dawn, and what I think is amazing is how the expectations are there now from students who look for the direct connections and flexible delivery options made possible by the Internet in every course.
They are referred to as nomadic learners because learning for them includes flexibility, mobility, and convenience while still being connected. They are to a great extent dependent on technology, wireless capability, etc. which can at times be detrimental. Not saying that technology has not made great gains in education but have we looked at the amplifications and amputations of technology lately?
Indeed, Dianne, while we can observe the nomadic characteristics of students today we should also be aware, as instructors, of how to contextualize their learning within realistic and relevant applications of use.
Princeton.edu defines the nomad as a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons. While I understand the view of some of these posts, I agree with the label. The Nomadic Learner learns via various means of technology (internet, cell, etc.) all connected to the same base. Given these luxuries, many of them are so mobile and can learn from anywhere in the world. (no permanent home) They have the ability to access the instructed information any time, any where. For example, our school has a portal that can be accessed anytime anywhere via the internet. This source of information documents much of the items they need such as course content.
Great comments, Alicia. Yes, I agree that there are enough nomadic characteristics of the younger generation of students to warrant the title.
Today's generation of students are referred to as "nomadic" because of their access to information. It is truly no longer "acceptable" as an instructor to only provide learning material via paper....we must now conform to the technology driven student and provide them that same material in a variety of media, such as Internet, podcast, etc. We must realize that they were brought up using technology and that is how they learn the best.
Yes, Tricia, and another very important reality is that information and, therefore, potential course material and content is already available to students outside the class. When instructors integrate this reality into their instructional design, nothing is then locked into the parameters of class time, but is truly accessible and available in many different formats and from various sources. This redefines passivity and activity in the learning process.
