Web Seminars Contributed by EDUCAUSE, Net Generation Learner, and Learners

University of Central Florida students Jared Lang and Jessica Vargas will discuss how Net Gen students use technology inside and outside the classroom. They will focus on various social networking tools, Web 2.0 applications, and information fluency issues. Fellow student Christopher Conover will provide technical assistance as they review different Web sites to illustrate their points.

The rise of the millenials has spawned new conversations about engagement and learning on today's college campuses. But what do these Net Gen learners really want? From the mouth of a confessed Net junkie, learn what makes these students tick, what ticks them off, and what faculty and administrators need to know to bridge the generational divide. Using anecdotes from her own life and the lives of her peers, Carie Windham will provide an overview of Net Gen characteristics and how those characteristics translate to the classroom, including the "Ten Commandments of Net Gen Teaching and Engagement."

EDUCAUSE Vice President Diana Oblinger will moderate Ron Bleed's Web Seminar, "Visual Literacy in Higher Education," which is also the title of his recent ELI Explorations paper (please see the "Explore Emerging Issues" section of the ELI Community Exchange). In the paper, Bleed describes the emerging challenge of understanding and promoting visual literacy:

Today's environment is highly visual—television, Web sites, video, and images dominate our lives—and visuals created with new technologies are changing what it means to be literate. The literacy of the 21st century will increasingly rely not only on text and words but also on digital images and sounds. This paper explores the emergence of visual literacy, which will become as important as textual literacy for learning, and the need to integrate it into the curriculum at colleges and universities.

During his Web Seminar, Bleed will explore the concept of visual literacy in greater depth, highlight its emergence as a topic of importance in higher education, and discuss its implications for the future of teaching and learning.

For the past decade, we have talked about how information technology has changed how we work, live, and learn. At the same time, learners have changed. The learning styles, attitudes, and approaches of today's high school students differ from those of 18–22-year-old college students as well adult learners. An essential component of creating effective learning environments is understanding learners. The purpose of this presentation is to describe what we know about the next-generation learner and consider the implications for higher education.