Digital Distractions College Students in the 21st Century

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Digital DistractionsCollege Students in the 21st
Century

• Danielle Tisinger
• College of Continuing Education Post-Secondary
  Student Services
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Jennifer Rude
• College of Liberal Arts Student Services
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities

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Agenda

• Theoretical Perspectives
• Types of Technologies
• Positives and Negatives
• What Next?

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Scenario

• Something weve all seen before..

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Talkin bout my generationFind yourself!

• Lost Generation (Born 1883 1900)
• G.I. Generation (Born 1901
  1924)
• Silent Generation (Born 1925 1942)
• Boom Generation (Born 1943 1960)
• Gen X (Born 1961
  1981)
• Millennial Generation (Born 1982 now)
• Howe, Neil and William Strauss. Millennials Go
  to College. AACRAO, 2003. p.19.

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What about Generation Y?

• Top 10 suggested names in an ABC poll
• Millennials
• Dont Label Us
• Generation Y (or Why?)
• Generation Tech
• Generation Next
• Generation.com
• Generation 2000
• Echo Boom
• Boomer Babies
• Generation XX
• Howe, N. Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials
  rising The next great generation.
• New York Vintage Books.

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Attributes of theInformation-Age Mindset

• Computers are NOT technology
• The Internet is better than TV
• Reality is no longer real
• Doing is more important that knowing
• Multitasking is a way of life
• Typing is preferred to handwriting
• Staying connected is essential
• There is zero tolerance for delays
• Consumer and creator are blurring
• also see http//www.beloit.edu/pubaff/mindset/

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Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim BorgmanPublished
October 17, 2006
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Student Development Theory

• Psychosocial Development
• Chickering and Reissers Seven Vectors
• Cognitive-Structural Development
• Perrys Stages

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What technologies are out there, anyway?

• Anything!!
• Web-based
• Facebook and Friendster
• iTunes
• Rateaprof.com
• Wikipedia.org

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Adam by Brian BassetPublished March 8, 2006

• MySpace.com / blogs

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Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

• Blogs

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Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

• Cell Phones

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By Dan Wasserman

• iPods

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More Technologies

• Instant Messenger
• Laptop Computers
• Gaming Systems
• Pop-Culture TV Shows, Movies, Songs
• PowerPoint

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Millennial Use of Computers

• 72 of all students check their email daily
• 20 of todays students began using computers
  between the ages of 5 and 8
• 60 of college internet users have downloaded
  files online compared to 28 of all users
• 26 of college students use IM on an average day
  compared to 12 of all users
• Pew American Life Project (2003)

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Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim BorgmanPublished May
21, 2006
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More Millennial Use of Computers

• 46 of students reported that email allows them
  to express ideas to professors they otherwise
  wouldnt express in person
• 19 of students reported that they communicate
  more with professors via email than in person
• 73 of students reported that they use the
  internet more than the library to search for
  information
• Pew American Life Project (2003)

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On the Fastrack by Bill HolbrookPublished March
19, 2006

• Learning more closely resembles Nintendo than
  logic

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What Positive Skills are Gained?

• Fast reflexes
• Minimalism (understand shortcuts, etc)
• Ability to gather information quickly
• Multi-tasking
• Using technology to connect with classmates to
  form study groups, etc.

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More Positives

• Ability to access better (?) information more
  quickly
• Using technology to connect with faculty and
  advisers

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Negatives of the Behaviors

• Appearance of disrespect
• Plagiarism
• Lack of critical thinking about sources,
  information (especially online!)
• Unable to mine for data likely will click one or
  two pages in, but not further

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New Yorker Cartoon by Peter SteinerPublished
July 5, 1993

• Assumption of
• anonymity

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Stone Soup by Jan EliotPublished April 3, 2006

• Too much trust (personal information online)

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Fast Track Published September 26, 2006

• Future impact for jobs and career

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Still More Negatives

• Email, IM, gaming during lectures
• More resources for plagiarism
• Poor spelling and grammar

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Fox Trotby Bill Amend

• Missing important details tendency to skim
  rather than probe

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Fox Trot by Bill AmendPublished April 20, 2006

• Use of emoticons in formal writing

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Sleepless in Seattle1993

• Overuse of acronyms

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Thinking about the Issue

• If you cant beat em
• Technology isnt going away, institutions will
  never be able to keep up with what the students
  bring in how can we harness this power for good
  rather than evil?

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Solutions for Academic Advising?

• Model good behavior (turn off radio, computer
  speakers, turn down phone ringer, etc)
• Orientation sessions about appropriate behavior
  around technology and school
• Podcast important orientation ideas, sessions,
  resources of interest
• Achieving End of Semester Success Podcast
  http//www.osa.umn.edu/podcasts
• IM advising?
• Enlist faculty help in incorporating technology
  into classrooms

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More Solutions

• Freshmen seminars on practical uses of
  technology
• Incorporation of appropriate behaviors, uses of
  technology into academic skills courses
• Training for faculty, staff, previous generations
  to use and understand technology the students are
  bringing with them to college.

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More Solutions

• Enlist library help for effective research
  skills

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Questions?

• Bibliography and additional resources can be
  found on the handout.
• Our contact informationJennifer Rude
  jrude_at_class.cla.umn.eduDanielle Tisinger
  dtisinge_at_cce.umn.edu