I feel that the easy access to information can be a good thing.On the other hand, not all the information you get from the internet is accurate or even true. I try to emphasise that during discussions about why we need to be able to understand how and why something does what it does. You can not diagnose a problem with a mechanical or electronic assembly by getting guesses from the internet. This will only lead to misdiagnosis and an expensive failure. This requires critical thinking on the part of the person performing the diagnosis and quick answers from the internet may help but still won't get the job done right the first time.
I agree.But what I see as the problem is that even if they want to study they don't have the skills to do so properly. They don,t have study skills. Note taking, using flash cards to study as a couple examples.
For instructors that come from different previous generations, the tech savy Y learners can often use technology better than some instructors.
It can be useful to encourage their talents and enlist their interest in areas of technology that the teacher is not as proficient with.
I think it has been both positive and negative.... this generation is so used to having information immediately at their finger tips. So if you as a question and they have to think about it, they immediately want to "google search" it or want you to tell them the answer instead of doing the work on their own. It is frustrating to the instructors because they always want to be in contact with others and their computers and smart phones can be a total distraction!
Robert,
I agree that one of our great opportunities with Gen Y is to help learn how to discern good/reliable info from bad.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Kimberly,
yes & actually this is a great way to earn respect from Gen Yers as they appreciate your tapping into their expertise.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Technology has made it challenging to keep students attention. It has also make students more knowledgeable than ever, having the world at their fingertips.
I feel technology can be helpful for getting information in front of the students, however I feel as if technology has taken over and gen y want everything handed to them, verse learning for thereselves and putting in the hard work for achievements in life.
Though there are uses for these technical gadgets in the classroom and elsewhere, I found that it becomes more often than not, more of an albatross....
In the non technical classrooms, instructor vs smartphone/technology seems to be an uphill battle to say the least; and for those who do "participate" in the class discussion or activities they seem to be almost crippled without their technology.
I have never seen individuals who are supposed to be so well "connected" appear more disconnected. Gen.Y. may be more technically adaept per sey, yet they have forgotten (if they ever learned it to begin with) the importance of the human element, face to face sociability, empathy, independent thought, compassion and the joy of learning something without the internet/google...
It seems that as we become more technilogically advanced, the more Borg like we become...assimilated...
Michelle,
I agree with you. The more we can incorporate experiences that force them to research & learn for themselves, the better we will prepare them for the future.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Being much more connected than any generation before them Gen Y students have grown up expecting to have access to any and all information. As a result they are used to the idea of going out and looking for answers on their own, the biggest goal then being to teach them how to find a good answer over a bad one. At this point I often feel a bigger impact on the learning process and technology comes from the teacher and not the student. Many instructors will talk disparigingly about open source sites like wikipedia, nevermind the fact that many studies have shown the information contained in open source sites to be of a generally high quality. As teachers begin to understand the technology at a more fundamental level it will become easier to work with other digital natives.
Ted,
well put. A significant challenge is our adjustment to change as instructors; and we do have a great chance to help these students learn how to discern good info from bad.
Dr. Ryan Meers
This is so true. Because of the technology, this generation is used to getting information immediately. The information comes TO them rather than them GOING TO the information. They have not developed the same skill of searching out information the same way that the boomers have learned to search it out. This becomes a problem when they can't find what they need right away. They tend to give up and just accept whatever they have rather than continue to search for a better answer.
Deborah,
I think this generation is rather skilled at finding info, they just need help in learning to discern good from bad.
Dr. Ryan Meers
My experience is that they are more concerned with the speed of getting the information rather than the legitimacy of the information. With the Internet at their fingertips, this is a problem.
I agree that things change from generation to generation and we need to adapt to instruct different generations but at the same time i dont believe we should give in completely. we shouldnt fully adapt to I need the answer now or i am going to give up. Generation y needs to learn to figure things out on there own with out having to ask someone the answer all the time. We instruct generation y students on how to repair cars the cars do not care what generation you are from they just need to be fixed and if you cant fix them you wont have a job. You cant depend on asking someone or google because the answer wont always be correct and maybe they dont have the time to stop and do your work for you.
Dr. Meers:
Where I teach I am fortunate to truly have a variety of each generation mentioned in this course. I have an 84 year old that rocks in our class and adapting to technology because he has to, not because it's exciting to him.
I do find that though the Y generation's attention span seems to be at a different level than the other group of generations in my class, they can contribute quite a bit when I engage some learning techniques, like jeopardy, educational tools that actually means they have to step outside of the box without using technology. They moan and grown..but when they get started they do enjoy it.
It is a learning process for everyone involved.
I have noticed a lot of Gen Y students using smart phones in class to take notes, they will use it to dictate the notes. On the other end are the so called smart phone users who will just take a picture of the white board instead of taking down the notes. Just taking a picture will not help a student retain the information as well.
Carlos,
yes, I don't think the point is to completely change, but to understand generational differences.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I think instant gratification is the biggest impact. Gen Y doesn't want to spend much time completing a task. The areas I see this impact the most is writing and research. In my experience, I spend much time teaching patience with the process and that it takes many attempts and modifications to get the final result. the students want the final prodcut instantly, not understanding that in writing that it takes several modifications to get it correct or research that it takes several methods and attempts to find the correct information, not just a google search.
