Diana G. Oblinger
Executive Director of Higher Education,
Microsoft Corporation

Today’s learners, dubbed the “net generation,” are far different from previous cohorts of students, including GenXers, and colleges and universities need to adapt to meet their changing learning styles, preferences, and service expectations, Oblinger said during her plenary address.
     She examined factors that could help higher education officials understand what it takes to make today’s technology-influenced students successful, and proposed a set of priorities for educational institutions.
     Today’s students are non-traditional (for example, 43 percent are 24 or older, 80 percent are employed, more than half of undergraduates are women, and one-third are other than white), digitally literate (mobile, always on), experiential, and community-oriented, Oblinger said. For this “NetGen,” the World Wide Web is as ubiquitous and essential as “oxygen.” Their community is virtual, and their perspective global. “They are highly ‘media literate’—by age 21, the average person will have spent 10,000 hours playing video games, 20,000 hours watching TV, and 10,000 hours on the cell phone, but only 5,000 hours reading,” she said. “Their learning preferences are team-oriented, technological, structured, engaged, and experiential. And their service expectations are difficult to meet because they expect immediacy, customization, and choice.”
     How can colleges and universities help these students to succeed? “Programs for student success include early outreach, academic support, remediation, early warning, learning communities, and grants versus loans,” Oblinger said. “Students must develop their analytical, creative, and practical intelligence; hone their interpersonal skills (be able to communicate effectively; engage in open, productive dialogue; work in teams; provide feedback; and negotiate effectively); and develop a strategic perspective (able to see the ‘big picture,’ understand the forces involved, sense change, and identify opportunities).”
     “Games are an ideal way to engage NetGen students,” she added, because games promote active, experiential, and problem-based learning.” The games should include “elements of immersive environments, experimentation and role playing, multi-sensorial stimulation, replayability, urgency, complexity, and immediate feedback.” For example, “Environmental Detectives,” developed at MIT, involves students in determining the source of a water contamination program and places students in teams, where “computer simulation on a handheld computer triggered by a real world location combines the physical and virtual world contexts, embeds learning in authentic situations, and engages users in a socially facilitated context.”
     Another highly successful learning experience for students is immersion in national and international politics through role-playing. “Taking a real-world example such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, teams will assume different roles, learn the art of negotiation, work both face-to-face and online, work with mentors and facilitators, and go through simulation and debriefing exercises,” she said.
     Other activities that promote persistence and success include “student-faculty interaction, an institutional emphasis on diversity, extra-curricular activities, interaction with faculty outside of class, and living and working part-time on campus.”
     Providing a diverse campus life is also key, Oblinger stressed. “Students who experience the most diversity benefit in terms of learning outcomes and ‘democracy outcomes.’ To ensure diversity, campus leaders should take steps to affirm the students’ identity, cultivate understanding among diverse groups, and build community.”

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