Week 5 - Neo Millenial Learning

My main question is, just because you can get online almost anywhere, does that mean that people will use all of that accessibility for learning? Or are people just using it for entertainment and communication? One of the articles that I read this week was by Dieterle, E., Dede, C., & Schrier, K. (2007). “Neomillennial” learning styles propagated by wireless handheld devices. I found the portion of the article explaining Harvard's Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous Learning (HDUL) study interesting, mainly the fact that particpants did not correlate the use of handheld devices with online learning. As this study showed, people are still stuck in a rut where the believe that online learning occurs only while sitting at a traditional computer. We now know that you can learn anywhere, anytime. Although I found that part mildly interesting, I was fascinated by Schrier's Reliving the Revolution (RtR) experiment that was conducted at MIT. The study was designed to enable partipants to relive the Battle of Lexington through the eyes of 1 of 4 historical figures and play the part of historical detective as they are presented with different information at different points throughout their journey. Although I see the historical significance of this learning experiment as important, more important is that this exercise is also designed so that participants are encouraged to determine the validity of information that is presented to them throughout their journey through the battlefield. Thus, this is linking back to a critical digital literacy skill as was discussed last week, that although it is important for learners to be able to research for information, it is essential that they are able to examine the validity of the information. I like the fact that someone was able to capture this concept in a dynamic learning environment that provides such a rich experience for the learner.