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What began as modest and sometimes heroic efforts by faculty members to use resources and materials found on the Internet to provide their students with alternatives to buying expensive textbooks has blossomed into the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, which is gaining traction nationwide.

It is really interesting that 91% of the students admitted that they failed to complete the readings before the class, and %46 of them stated they would complete it if it was in the digital format. So, it seems that digital format is more appealing than thick,old,heavy books :)

Not much surprising results for me too. I have observed similar patterns in my undergraduate classes. We also need to discuss the quality of reading experience with technology. There is some research out there.

Yes, it is not a surprise result. Enhancements in technology and devices changed people's life in many ways. For example, children meet technology and its opportunities before they meet books.Before being literate, children can learn many thing by playing games on tablets and using internet. Actually, it is an easy and preferable way for reaching knowledge.

A cheatsheet of edtech concepts and trends from sms to byod for EdTech beginners.

Yasin, my contention is that you cannot motivate anyone "to read, research, be self-directed, explore" id they do not wish to be motivated in the first place. It is virtually impossible. What we can do is to serve as a model to them by depicturing what they can achieve provided that they possess these skills. I totally agree with you that the amount of generation gap between us and those who are only five to ten years younger is paramount, but I am pretty sure they'll find their own way as they grow up. Or, most of them will have to if they are to lead a good life because the skills you mentioned are now regarded as survival skills.

Yasin and Hakan, I agree with both of you. I also think that first we need to acknowledge our students are different. I may even call them humans 2.0 :) and yes their attention span is rather short and is getting shorter, and so is ours. I, as a teacher, suffer from it and have my own strategies. Maybe we can help students in that, too. Also, I really don't think they don't want to "read, research, be self-directed, explore". When something enters into their "radar", they can turn into autonomous and motivated researchers! I know that I am pointing out to the obvious, but we need te revise what we teach and how we teach. As also stated in the Horizon Report 2016: " In order to remain motivated, students need to be able to make clear connections between the curriculum and the real world, and how the new knowledge and skills will impact them."