Yes, Cecil, and, of course, that instant access to information goes a long way in redefining the role of the instructor and increasing learner autonomy, when handled well.
I agree with your comments, Ron. The challenge for instructors is of course not only to be familiar with the idea of change but also to keep their minds alert as to the changes brought to teaching and learning as a result.
The mobile and wireless innovations over the past 5 years alone have dramatically changed the digital landscape for students. I think this has subsequently left many faculty feeling out-of-touch as they did not grow up with these technologies or anything close. It is like comparing a broom to an iRobot Cleaning Robot - you can't. Even the newly emerging Wi-Fi Direct Connect technology is/will change yet again how users can connect with various mobile technologies.
Another factor that influences this characterization of today's students [and I would suggest removing the usage of Generation Y – any reference is dated these days] is that technology itself is putting "the cart before the horse." Whatever the new technology [I recently have been calling this the "new candy wrapper"], from Mi-Fi to Twitter, is instantaneously adopted and propagated without serious research and analysis as to the impact they will have in education, especially in widening the gap between student and instructor when the trend should be heading in the other direction. I don't blame students for adopting any of these newly emerging technologies, they are the "fish in the barrel," and so for the meantime it creates a substantial burden on faculty to stay up-to-date as best they can.
The two main technology applications that influence the "Nomadic Learner", in my opinion, are wireless applications and mobile communication/computing applications. The learner can access verbal, visual, audiotory, and virtual spaces to achieve learning anytime, anywhere he/she chooses, including while driving, waiting in queues, and other places where "traditional" linear learning is not available. Cell phones and wireless Internet allow instant access to authoritative answers to questions that arise from stimulus encountered in life's situations. In times past we would have to remember the question (which was hard for some of us to do unless we wrote it down), and then go to the public library or home encyclopedia or seek an expert to find the answer. This was too much trouble most of the time, so our questions went unanswered. For example, I was recently at the Vitginia State Fair looking at the huge pumpkins submitted and it occurred to me that I didn't know what the world's record heaviest pumpkin weighed. I accessed my cell phone app and found the record to be 1689 pounds in Rhode Island in 2007, and I could even see a picture of that pumpkin. (After the Fair, I discovered that record was broken on October 7, 2009 in Ohio with a 1725-pound gourd!)
Through wireless technology and mobile communications we can learn almost anything anywhere using a variety of learning modes if we choose to do so. Of course, there is at least one caveat. Since there is no control over the reliablilty of the information, we must be careful trusting the information we find in this way. In times past we could trust the reputable publishers to assure accuracy, but the Internet is full of misinformation because there is no authoritative control!
