Net Gen Learners and Libraries
Joan K. Lippincott
Coalition for Networked Information
Characteristics of Net Gen
Students
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Always connected, multitasking
Oriented to working in groups
Experiential learners
Visual
Producers as well as consumers
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December 2, 2005
It’s About More than Style…
It’s about learning
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December 2, 2005
What type of learning?
 “Deeper Learning”
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Social
Active
Contextual
Engaging
Student-owned
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December 2, 2005
Lorcan Dempsey on Libraries
"So, unlike the major online presences, our
systems have low gravitational pull, they do
not put the user in control, they do not adapt
reflexively based on user behavior, they do
not participate fully in the network experience
of their users."
http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/cat_libraries_organization_and_services.html
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December 2, 2005
Net Gen and Libraries: Disconnects
Net Gen Students
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Multi-media
Figure it out
Work in groups
Multi-task
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December 2, 2005
Libraries
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Text-based
Learn from experts
Individually based
Logical, linear
Deeper Learning Is:
Net Gen Students Are:
ACTIVE
EXPERIENTIAL
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December 2, 2005
British Museum website
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December 2, 2005
Poll students on your website
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December 2, 2005
MOMA Poll
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December 2, 2005
Global Probability Lesson
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December 2, 2005
U. Alberta Library’s PDA Zone
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December 2, 2005
Digital Chemistry at UC Berkeley
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December 2, 2005
To encourage active learning,
libraries can:
 Introduce interactivity on library
websites
• Exploration via clicking on objects
• Taking polls
• Partner on national or global initiatives
 Provide resources for PDAs or other
mobile devices
 Connect with interactive curricula
being used at your institution
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December 2, 2005
Deeper Learning Is:
Net Gen Students Are:
CONTEXTUAL
PRODUCERS &
CONSUMERS
LOCALLY
OWNED
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December 2, 2005
Dartmouth Library
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December 2, 2005
Student project at Santa Clara U.
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December 2, 2005
USC Student Project
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December 2, 2005
U. Minnesota Library’s Blog Service
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December 2, 2005
GMU History Tools
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December 2, 2005
U. Washington Digital Collections
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December 2, 2005
To encourage student creation of
information products, libraries can:
 Provide multimedia production areas
and services
 Include IP discussions in information
literacy programs
 Host a blog service
 Help users connect with tools for
digital production
 Help users find quality digital content
that they can use in their productions
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December 2, 2005
Deeper Learning Is:
Net Gen Students Are:
ENGAGED
VISUAL
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December 2, 2005
A different approach to library web
pages at LAPL
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December 2, 2005
Visual finding aid at the Tate
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December 2, 2005
Mechanical Engineering Game at
MIT
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December 2, 2005
Second Life: Virtual World
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December 2, 2005
Visualization tool at U. Hong Kong
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December 2, 2005
UC Merced Library
“The library will have a café and allow food and
beverages in the stacks and reading
areas…Large, flat-screen digital monitors may
hang like picture frames on the walls, displaying
information or images from the digitized special
collections.”
“The Birth of a Research University,” CHE, v.51, Issue 30, p. A24
ACRL/NY
December 2, 2005
Virtual 3-D Models in the Library
It is 2012 and most research libraries are now outfitted
with real-time, immersive theaters…”Users of the theater
feel as if they are right in the middle of the subject of their
study - be it ancient Rome, the three stable members of
the C2H4O Group of isotomers, the interacting galaxy
NBC 4038/9 in Corvus, or the geological stratigraphy of
Mars. At will, users can fly over Earth and, moving a time
bar, set themselves down at any one of several hundred
sites of great importance to humanity’s cultural history.”
Bernard Frischer, The Ultimate Internet Café. CLIR, 2005
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December 2, 2005
To encourage engagement and
visual orientation, libraries can:
 Use more visual cues on library
websites
 Display images and graphics of digital
information resources
 Explore creation of or links to
multimedia learning games
 Get involved in virtual worlds
 Provide data for visualization projects
 House virtual, 3-D theaters
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December 2, 2005
Deeper Learning Is:
Net Gen Students Are:
SOCIAL
ALWAYS CONNECTED
GROUP-ORIENTED
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December 2, 2005
Dickinson College IC
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December 2, 2005
Cox Center - Emory
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December 2, 2005
Georgia Tech IC
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December 2, 2005
U. Georgia Student Learning Center
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December 2, 2005
To promote a social context for
learning, libraries can:
 Provide comfortable, informal spaces
 Provide group study rooms
 Install cafes
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December 2, 2005
The Net Gen Are Our Future
 Assist students with making the
transition from the recreational use of
technology to academic use of
technology
 Provide environments, physical and
virtual, which engage students
 Promote creativity in students’
discipline-related work
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December 2, 2005
Comments and Discussion
 Is the notion of Net Gen students a
myth or hype?
 Why shouldn’t students learn to use
our sophisticated information
systems?
 What are some inexpensive ways to
adapt to Net Gen preferences?
 What examples can you add that
illustrate new content, services, and
environments tailored to Net Gen
students?
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December 2, 2005
Resources
Educating the Net Gen
Edited by Diana G. Oblinger and James L.
Oblinger
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666&ID=pub7101
Colleen Carmean & Jeremy Haefner.
“Mind Over Matter.” EDUCAUSE Review, vol 37,
No. 6, Nov./Dec., 2002
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0261.pdf
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December 2, 2005