Meet Generation NeXt: Understanding and Teaching Todays Learners

Dr. Mark Taylor TaylorPrograms.com August 9, 2012

Notes in RED are my (Johana-Marie Williams) comments
Millennial: Generation of conventional conformists? Looking to adults for confirmation?

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GEN NEXT 1. Different a. The Generations i. >1945 The Traditionals: Duty, Discipline, Thrift, Sacrifice, Layaway, Church, Belief, Thou Shalts! PreModernityBible ii. 1945-1965 Boomers: Credit Cards, School, Science, What Can Be? Im Okay, Youre Okay, Science, Progress, Human Potential, Modernity iii. 1965-85 Me / X Generation: Most Compliant, Pragmatic, Transitional iv. 1985-2005 NeXt: Opinon More than Fact, Spin, All Ideas Are Equally Valid, PostModernity, Least Compliant 2. Used to Easy Success a. Meet the Parents: Managing Students for Success i. More teacher/student contact 1. Perfect irony: The parent calling the financial aid office to convince financial office that their child is independent ii. Helicopter Parents: hovers around helps when necessary iii. Bulldozer Parents: goes before and pushes obstacles out of the way before the child has a chance to manage them on their own. Attachment parenting. iv. Reactionary Parenting 1. Parent as friend/facilitator, Peer-ents 2. Doing what a child could manage on their own 3. No authorities, experts, or bosses a. Expect options/choices b. Self-important c. Value own opinion d. Expect choices, easy to quit b. Constant Programming i. Constructed childhood; leading to: 1. Reduced creating, thinking, planning 2. Reduced external responsibility c. Self-Esteem Programming; leading to i. No self-doubt, shame, or guilt = Im good enough/why change? ii. Talent, Natural ability = I dont have to try iii. Expectation of Unlimited horizons

iv. Does Not like completion Praise Junkies v. Sensitive/defensive to criticism 3. Diverse a. Comfortable with racial/ethnic diversity (?) b. Does not value socioeconomic diversity i. (But that also impacts comfortability with racial diversity since economic status often intersects with race/ethnicity) ii. Dr. Taylor does not reference the fact that just because the Millennial generation self-reports diversity as important to them and often learn/live in the same spaces does not mean that they are actually comfortable. Personal experience, as well as recent studies on race, racism, and social interaction cause me to question the validity of this particular assumption. It might be more accurate to say that Millennials are diverse but that they are also not necessarily confortable with that diversity and prone to self-segregation. c. Millennial Demographics (American 18-29) i. White 61% ii. Black 14% iii. Hispanic/Latino 19% iv. Asian 5% v. Other 4. Digital a. Physical/Neurological/Interpersonal Effects i. Spend record amounts of time with media ii. More inside/less physically active iii. Wired world views iv. Social networking v. Shorter attn span vi. Distracted/difficulty disconnecting from media and technology vii. Experimentation vs. Problem solving 1. Dont figure it out, just try viii. Recall vs. Retrieval (Knowing vs. Finding) 1. Why waste time and energy storing knowledge that can be retrieved at the drop of hat? 2. Internet as an extension of cognition 5. Outcomes issues a. Traditional classroom (Lecture) is confusing and not engaging since the emphasis is on disconnecting from media, absorbing information at a set time. Creates antagonism since the thought is Why do I have to be here to do this? b. Loss of critical thinking, complex reasoning, and written communication i. Look Up Academically Adrift A PEDAGOGY FOR TODAYS LEARNERS 1. Identify class goals and link to students goals a. Have students break into groups based on the future plans. Let them express those goals then explain how your class can help them reach those goals\

2. Improve student understanding of class expectations a. Get students to engage in your new class format and understand that what has been done in the past isnt working and explain how what you and they are going to do is more helpful 3. Move content out of the classroom, and application into the classroom a. Online video lectures i. Anywhere, anytime convenience ii. Repeatable, rewindable iii. Easy to for students to review what they already should know iv. No embarrassing questions b. Whats the point of class then? i. Active learning ii. Time and space for application 4. Create necessity of preparing for class a. Make class prep required every day (whether its turning in completed homework, completing an online quiz before coming, completing short quiz at beginning of class, etc.) b. Make it worth 25% of the grade c. Make class activities another 25% of grade d. Make completion of homework/class prep a prereq. to participating in classroom activities. e. Improve assessments and accountability 5. Increase classroom activity and engagement a. Students should have to i. Teach the content to each other ii. Demonstrate the skills to each other iii. Convince each other that the content is important 6. Improve assessments and accountability