Gen y vs Boomers
I teach at an Technical school and have broad range of students from many parts of the country.
I find I dificult durring a lecture part of instuctoin to keep the attention of all the students. With Gen Y's texting and viewing. to boomers who apprieciat the excellerated learning style I like to teach with.
There are policies in place to impower me to tell those students to put away there phones. But they alway find there way back out.
I find it distracting as a speaker.
I agree it is becoming more difficult to keep students focused because of smart phones and smart pads. The only option I see is to incorporate their "toys" into the training.
While I agree that it is difficult to remove the toys from the class, I don't think we should abandon it. 1. Gen Y needs someone to set limits. While they test the limits, as children they learn to respect them. 2. Employers do not allow workers to constantly text, check personal email or post their latest rants on facebook during job time. Are we not supposed to be preparing our students for the "real work world?" If they will not be allowed at a job, why should we as teachers allow. 3. They are paying good money (or our tax dollars if through grants) why should we encourage them to not pay attention.
I agree, but until that process is brought to the class room where we as instuctors can communicate using the items of destraction they remain just that. So Im left with gentle reminder that I need their attention.
Robert,
I completely agree with you that the instructor needs to set the rules for the individual classes. Your school may have a no cell phone policy & that's great, but if the school doesn't & you want to have that rule in your class, make the rule. The students will complain, but as you said, that's real life.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Its hard to keep all happy best way is to work slow and address all students =.
I agree with the issues training gen Y students versus baby boomers. it is extremely difficult to keep kids focused during lecture. I use any kind of media and AV aid I can to move along lectures before they start texting.
I agree with the issues training gen Y students versus baby boomers. it is extremely difficult to keep kids focused during lecture. I use any kind of media and AV aid I can to move along lectures before they start texting.
I agree with all the distrations and it is very frustrating as an instructor realizing that you don't have the students' attention as they would rather see the latest youTube download. Some of the students are not really there to learn a new profession but are there because of grant money, which adds another frustration of "how do you get their attention"?
Jodi,
yes & while it is not a satisfactory answer...I'm afraid that there are some students that we just won't be able to get interested.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Gen Y's technology does have it's place but not in a technological or vocational classroom where the students direct attention is required to uderstand and comprehend the information that is being presented to them.
I to stuggle with the Gen Y's affair with cell phone and other "techno devices". As Mr. Roberts stated, policy's are in place to inform (tell) the students to put their phones away or at least exit the classroom if they just have to take this call or text. When they return, now they have missed out on pertenite information and now this becomes an issue because of the students absence.
I have students who have approached me looking for information that was missed and I am happy to provide them with this information but now it is on my time, I always put out there that I am available after class to provide follow up and to answer any questions that they may have concerning the material they missed while taking that call or text, but "after class" never comes as the student is now to busy.
Now during lab, the student struggles and is even more frustrated as they didn't get the information concerning that project. As a Elective vocational/technical instructor, I only have a certain amount of time to cover the infomation concerning the module and it's related projects then it is onto lab. In my opinion, I would like to have a box in which each student would deposit their cell phone, android, galaxyS or whatever device they have at the beginning of each class and then pick it up on the way out at the end of class. But alas this would be akin to cutting off an arm to some.
We teach an accellerated learning process which encompasses the use of several handouts (each over a 1" thick) that contain all the information that we as instructors present to them, when asked if they read the information, well the answer is usually no. The handouts are good but I still would prefer presenting the information via Powerpoint but have the students write all the information down by hand, what you write the brain can remember and own, but have you seen the hand writing of some of these students!!!!!! I just wish they would read their handouts, but now I have to ask, can Johnie Y read??
This is very hard to deal with at the Tech school I teach at, we have students from 18 on up. The older students really need the instructor to run class very slow and we tend to lose the younger students.On the flip side the older student become upset with the younger students when phones and others items are used in class which tends bother them. I make it very clear on the first day of class that phones are to be turned off which really helps, our student handbook supports this.
Donnie
I also have a problem with the phones, and I teach computer classes. I have established a policy that requires all phones to be turned off during my class. If someone fails to turn the phone off and it rings during class - the student is directed to take the phone and leave the class for the day. My position is that their phone use during class is disrespectful to myself and their fellow students.
Many of the students have privately thanked me for my position, and stated that they wished more instructors would take the same stance on the issue.
For those who do advocate the use of phones, how do you handle the issue of phone use and texting during quizzes and tests? Many students seem to think that if you allow the use that they can use them any time.
Calvin,
this is a great policy & I do believe that many of our students tire of the constant distractions. For me, if I see the phone out during a test or quiz, there is an academic penalty, generally a pretty heavy one.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I totally agree - I tell them I don't want to see a phone. You don't hear phones as much as they are always looking at them. Very distracting and disrepectful.
In our school if a student takes out his phone during a test it's an automatic 0. Usualy the threat is enough but it's still amazing how many student will take them out.
Well come to find out after all these years of thinking I was in generation x, I am in generation y born 1981. I defenitley feel more connected to generation x though. I as well feel smart phones and other electronic devices that keep them connected for social purposes are no place for the class room or work for that matter.
As a diesel technician for 14 yrs and now a new instructor I love technology for work related matters, you can get information and diagnois problems with much greater ease which is great.
I aslo agree that when students write down the information passed down from instructors is a good learning/remembering tool. It always worked for me.
I too experience the same thing in the classroom. As a testiment to the poor decisions of many younp people today, I witnessed this behaviour in an absolutly, beyond comprehension, incident the other day. There was a news reporter of the genereation Y sector doing her report while texting. She was obviously distracted from her work but, she didn't seem to care about it. I don't care if it was a text related to work or not, I consider it inexcusable. By the way, her report was poorly done even without the phone use.
I empathize. Some students will say their cell phones are out because they are recording my lectures. I have gotten to know these students and I know they don't mean to be disrespectful. They just need to text!
I empathize too. I teach SketchUp and find Gen Y's tend to flip back and forth between working with me on program and surfing or Facebook ... especially if I stop to help a student who is struggling.
I do not let it bother me. If they are keeping up and doing a good job, what is the harm in keeping themselves occupied while I help a more technologically challenged student. I just don't see it as disrespecful
Annette McCarthy
