The new shape of the student

This chapter critically examines student characteristics in light of the popular dis-course which describes students as part of a net generation of digital native young people. Digital and networked technologies have clearly changed the possibilities for students to learn and the ways in which teaching and learning can be conducted. It is also claimed that new technologies change what students are able to learn. However the claim that there is a new generation of learners characterized by a new mentality has to be careful assessed in the light of recent empirical evidence. The idea of a generation gap between digitally native students and their digitally immigrant teachers is challenged, as are claims that pressure from this new generation forces radical institutional change on educational institutions. The chapter argues against the generational nature of the argument and separates the technological changes that are taking place from the determinist rhetoric they have been couched in. This rhetoric suggests that changes amongst students are already well understood and that their educational implications are already known and lead to generally applicable if not universal consequences. The chapter concludes by arguing that there is no one shape for students and that digital technologies open up a range of opportunities and choices at all levels of education

DISCUSSION

This article argues that the use of the network metaphor can link together various different aspects of research into the use of advanced learning technologies based on computer networks. The idea of networked learning has become commonplace as an alternative to e-learning that stresses the interaction of learners, tutors and resources through networks. The arguments put in this article are firstly that learning technology needs to take account of the wider debate about networks and secondly that research in this field needs to address the theoretical and practical issues raised by advances in the field of networks. A third point is that the idea of the network acts as a powerful metaphor even if we are able to discount any particular theory generated in its support. The network metaphor can act as a unifying concept allowing us to bring together apparently disparate elements of the field. Networks are an important issue in the study of learning using advanced technologies and they speak to some of the central issues in learning theory such as virtual communities and communities of practice

A context for collaboration: The institutional selection of an infrastructure for learning

This paper discusses the role of institutional issues in the deployment of infrastructures for learning and the ways in which they can impact on the range of choices and opportunities for collaboration in university education. The paper is based on interviews with 12 key informants selected from relevant staff categories during the deployment of a new institutional infrastructure in a large UK based distance learning university. It is supplemented by participant observation by the author who was part of a group of advisors tasked with working with the project team developing and deploying the new infrastructure. The paper investigates the development and deployment of the infrastructure as a meso level phenomena and relates this feature to the discussion of emergence and supervenience as features of social interactions in education

Students, the Net Generation and Digital Natives:Accounting for Educational Change

This chapter examines a number of different terms and popularized accounts of young people who are now at the stage in their lives of engaging in university education across the world. Three of the more common terms that have been used to describe this cohort of young people are the Net generation (Tapscott 1998, 2009), Digital Natives (Prensky 2001; 2001a: 2009) and Millennials (Howe and Strauss 2000; Oblinger & Oblinger 2005). This chapter critically examines the argument, common to writers using both terms: that the existence of an environment infused with digital and networked technologies, combined with an active engagement in these new technologies, leads directly to a sharp generational break. The chapter goes on to examine the determinist nature of the argument and the way this has been related to one particular pedagogical approach; collaborative learning. It examines the wider social and technological context and in particular the ideas of networked individualism and networked sociality. Finally the chapter concludes by examining which aspects of the Digital Native and Net Generation arguments are worth taking forward and by identifying those aspects of the arguments that need to be abandoned

Aggregate and Sector Import Price Elasticities for a Sample of African Countries

This paper applies panel data methods to a simple imperfect substitutes model to estimate import demand elasticities for ten African countries. The elasticities are estimated at three levels of aggregation. Firstly, we generate aggregate elasticities for each country. Secondly, we use interactive dummy variables to create estimates for 16 sectors defined by the World Customs Organisation (WCO). Finally, we estimate elasticities for each of the 94 2-digit product lines defined by the Harmonised System (HS). In total there are 10 aggregate estimates, 158 estimates for the 16 WCO sectors; and 911 estimates at the 2-digit level. Using Fixed-Effects, the aggregate estimates do not differ significantly from unity. However, as we move to different levels of aggregation the estimates have much more variability. In general, import demand appears more elastic in sectors that have relatively high levels of domestic production or where there are exports.Imports, Import Demand Elasticities, Africa

Academic use of digital resources: Disciplinary differences and the issue of progression revisited

This paper examines the use of digital resources by academic staff in a single UK University and its influence on academic practice over a two to three year period. The paper describes two linked studies that address several of the themes regarding the impact of electronic resources identified in this special edition. In particular it provides findings that contribute to our understanding of changing roles and practices in academic teaching (Oliver this edition). The themes explored in this paper include the way disciplinary differences affect the use of digital resources, and how academic progression is understood by academic staff in different disciplines and its role in informing staff choices in deploying digital resources for student use. The paper also addresses the issue of changing academic practice and the adoption life cycle in relation to use of digital resources. Keywords: Digital resources, Disciplinary differences, Teaching and learning, Distributed learning environments

Two-state filtering for joint state-parameter estimation

This paper presents an approach for simultaneous estimation of the state and unknown parameters in a sequential data assimilation framework. The state augmentation technique, in which the state vector is augmented by the model parameters, has been investigated in many previous studies and some success with this technique has been reported in the case where model parameters are additive. However, many geophysical or climate models contains non-additive parameters such as those arising from physical parametrization of sub-grid scale processes, in which case the state augmentation technique may become ineffective since its inference about parameters from partially observed states based on the cross covariance between states and parameters is inadequate if states and parameters are not linearly correlated. In this paper, we propose a two-stages filtering technique that runs particle filtering (PF) to estimate parameters while updating the state estimate using Ensemble Kalman filter (ENKF; these two "sub-filters" interact. The applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated using the Lorenz-96 system, where the forcing is parameterized and the amplitude and phase of the forcing are to be estimated jointly with the states. The proposed method is shown to be capable of estimating these model parameters with a high accuracy as well as reducing uncertainty while the state augmentation technique fails

The Net Generation enters university: What are the implications for Technology Enhanced Learning?

The term Net generation suggests that the generation of young people born after 1983 are different from any preceding generation because they have been exposed to digital technology in their day-to-day existence, and that this is has a profound impact on their attitudes and approach to learning. Examining the use of the terms Net generation and Digital Natives this paper reports a survey of first year undergraduate students in the UK. This paper, based on research conducted in the spring of 2008 examines whether there is a distinct Net generation amongst first year UK university students and if there are significant differences attributable to age, gender or disciplinary differences. It concludes that whilst there are significant changes taking place amongst first year undergraduate students in the UK they are far more complex than the idea of a single new generation would suggest