How did the discussion go from how GenY students view technology to cheating? Obviously some people have very bad experiences or do not manage their classrooms well.
To answer the question, the Gen Y student views technology as a normal part of their everyday existence. Not being connected for a Gen Y'er would be like a Baby Boomer not having a television. They would feel intellectually and emotionally malnourished, hungering for the meals of data and social interaction to fuel their existence.
The Gen Y student does not view the use of a smartphone or electronic device as rudeness or inattentive. They multi-task through their day looking for information, contact and answers.
Robb,
this is true, yet I would argue that the Gen Y learner does need to be made aware of certain guidelines in regard to the use of devices. I have many Gen Y students who complain about how absorbed in technology many of their peers are. While it has become a "normal" part of their existence, there is something within us as people that longs for personal interaction & I personally don't see it happening via technology.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Wow, from looking at most of the replies about Gen Y students it looks like we as instructors think that technology has taken a bad turn on our students educational process. The students like to see technology used in the classroom as a teaching or viewing tool. I have a small class so cheating is not too much of an issue. I have been more creative by using technology to post lesson plans, Power Point upcoming assignments with colorful visuals and then throw in a recent or relevant topic in video form to get their minds refocused during a 5 hour class. All of these tools really help but we have to be firm as instructors about NO PHONES policies in the classroom. PERIOD!
Loren,
and this is really what it comes down to: the effective & responsible use of technology in the classroom.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
My students can't seem to live without it. Every break they run to the door to check what they have missed on facebook during the past hour. As a boomer, I don't have the need to stay connected. I am trying to be more sympathetc to their addiction.
I have found that students tend to view it as their right not a privilage to always be connected. I do see the need to always be aware of what is going on outside of class. I try to incorporate the phones and web media as much as possible and the students sometimes even find really cool stuff for me to show! I do get frustrated when they don't follw guidelines set out to prevent distractions and I find it hard to discipline the use. It's often an all or nothing kind of situation. Any suggestions? I am going to try and have "phone breaks" and use them as a sharing tool soon.
I am a late arrival to the academic world. I had a 30+ career in the corporate sector. So I don’t know how cell phones got into the classroom in the first place. They were there when I started teaching. As a teacher/professor/instructor would you let your students just leave and return to your class anytime they wanted to while you were lecturing. That’s exactly what they are doing when they are surfing, tweeting or texting during class. Why did the teaching profession allow cell phones in class anyway? What were we thinking? There is absolutely no reason for a student to have a cell phone out in class. If they can't go 50 minutes without checking up on their friends then they are not higher ed material.
Charles,
this is a very strong, but good point for all of us to consider. If they can't survive that time frame without checking their phones, how will they hold a job?
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I believe that students need to separate themselve from technology. Cell phones and other devices are to be put away until all documents have been presented to me. I believe it encourages them to study more.
Generation Y students view technology as a part of life. It has become a basic "need" in their lives. Technology is incorporated in every part of their day from learning to communicating to job searching, etc. It is something that gives instant feedback and Gen Y students would not know what to do without it.
Evelyn ,
and we can search for ways to use it effectively in our instruction if we push ourselves.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I tell my students, we are all busy people with lives outside of the classroom, but I only have 4 hours with you each day. If I can manage to silent my cell phone, so can you. If you have a pressing issue, put it on vibrate and answer the call outside of the classroom.
I have had to call out a student who was constantly on his facebook account and not paying attention to class.
Karen,
I remember seeing an interview with Tom Brokaw (when he was still anchoring NBC news) & he was asked about his pet peeve & he said it was when the airplane landed & everyone whipped out their cell phones. I figure if a guy like Brokaw can wait until he's well inside the terminal to use his phone, I can put mine away for a couple hours too.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Gen Y students, in my experience, navigate technologies (even ones that are new to them) with great ease and as a natural extension of their research, communication and production activities.
They view technology as a NEED and NECESSITY rather than a resource or tool.
I think that many Gen Y students view technology as a necessary component of their lives. Many can't conceptualize how the world ever existed without it.
jen,
this is very true & sometimes the best lesson we can help them learn is how to function without the technology.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Scanning some of the other responses, I found many teachers with the same experiences I have had. Being an English teacher, I often see my students using technology to filter through the mountains of information only to copy and paste something into a research paper with the belief that I'm not smart enough to see when punctuation and grammar suddenly change from the barely literate to APA perfection and that the website address listed on the last page is enough of a citation. What amazes me is how so many of my students value the information available to them without placing any value on the people who accumulated it. A Google search yielding an easy source is better than any hard-to-navigate university-level database, they think, since faster is better in the land of the technologically savvy.
They view it as a necessity to the learning process. Anytime I ask my students a medical term they are not familiar with, instead of trying to break up the word in to prefixes, suffixes and root words they whip out their cell phones and look up the word. It is very frustrating as an instructor. They do not expect to work for their information when the internet just gives you the answer.
Carrie,
this is a good observation & unfortunately all too true. We need to help them learn how to break the words apart so they can be more effective at learning.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
