STUDYING THE LEARNING PARTICULARITIES OF NEW STUDENTS GENERATIONS - GUIDANCE FOR DEVELOPING FUTURE E-LEARNING SYSTEMS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Keywords:
Future e-Learning Perspectives, Web-Based Education, Virtual Learning Environment, Learner-Centered Approach, Students Behavioral Characteristics,Abstract
The key to developing a successful product, regardless of the domain for which it is considered, consists in understanding the needs of the final recipients and, consequently, in meeting those needs. While discussing the e-learning phenomenon, a learner-centered approach becomes essential, this representing the consumer or the direct beneficiaries. Students' expectations, habits and learning styles are constantly changing as a result of interferences made by the environment they grow and develop in. The current generation of learners grows surrounded by technology, smart devices and Social Media applications, which became an integral part of their life from the very early ages. Given the above, the challenge arises while identifying the functions and particularities that future e-learning systems must meet in order to create a familiar learning environment, serving the needs of contemporary learners.The purpose of this research is to identify the behavioral learning characteristics congruent to the current students’ generation. In the first stage, the work in question aims to review the specialized literature on student-centered training and the characteristics of new generations of learners. To address the goal of the subsequent phase, we chose a quantitative analysis method based on a specific questionnaire designed for the research in question. The target group consists of students from all study programs, the sample being formed taking into account the number of students enrolled, as of 1st of October 2017, in all universities with economic profile from Romania. The results will show us particularities such as the learning style, goal orientation, learning approach and so on, being aimed to guide the development of future e-learning systems that should be used in higher education, shaped in accordance to the identified particularities of learners.References
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