2007 EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Fall Focus Session

Being net savvy is much more than being unafraid of all things digital.

(Ensuring the Net Generation Is Net Savvy, ELI White Paper, September 2006)

The Net Generation seems at home in the digital world—navigating and adopting new technologies with ease. Although they can download music and create the perfect playlist, does that imply they know the professional applications needed for college and beyond? Do they distinguish between when Google and Wikipedia are the first places to look for information compared to an online database? Do they understand the ethics and nuances of using and sharing intellectual property? And, while almost all have a Facebook profile and long lists of friends, do they understand the difference between friendly and risky behavior?

In spite of being “digital natives,” many students demonstrate that they do not understand the personal, social, ethical, and academic implications of how they use information and technology. Perhaps the same is true of faculty, staff, and administrators. In an information-rich world, with constantly changing technologies, what skills do students need to prepare them for the 10+ careers they are likely to experience in their lifetimes?

Join us August 15–16, 2007, in Boulder, Colorado, for the 2007 ELI Fall Focus Session as we explore what, how, and why being net savvy is a critical skill in a Web 2.0 world. The session will bring together a variety of professionals to examine the implications of digital and visual literacy and information and technology fluency on the curriculum, student life, student engagement, and faculty development in higher education.

We will focus on:

• What it means to be net savvy—for students, faculty, and staff.
• The value of media-rich ways of learning.
• Strategies to help students develop the critical-thinking skills needed in a constantly changing digital, global, media-rich world.
• The integration of these skills across disciplines.
• Practices for preparing students to be responsible, self-directed, lifelong learners.

Is This Event for You?

If you are interested in developing or improving initiatives at your institution to help students and faculty become net savvy but have little expertise in this area, you will find the focus session a valuable experience. The event has been designed for:

• Information technology professionals
• Librarians
• Faculty
• Administrators
• Learning technologists
• Others functioning in related roles

We encourage you to assemble an institutional team to participate in the session. Some institutions send a team to focus on an upcoming project; others use meeting attendance to reward innovators or to build cross-disciplinary collaboration. By sharing a common experience and being able to reflect on the implications for their own campuses, team members find that the travel to and from the meeting, on-site discussions, and on-campus follow-up builds rapport, solidifies plans, and enriches collaboration.

Outcomes

As a result of the focus session, you should expect to:           

• Acquire a deeper understanding of what it means for students, faculty, and staff to be net savvy.
• Develop your net savvy awareness.
• Explore net savvy programs.
• Identify components of a campus-wide net savvy strategy.
• Engage in dialogue with a community of professionals focused on the topic.

Meeting Preparation

Participants are encouraged to explore readings and invited to participate in a premeeting survey in preparation for the focus session.