I write notes on the board for tests and tell my students that if copy the notes they will remember it better from actually writing it, nope they wait till I'm done writing and get out their phones and take pictures.
My son is a GenY student. I become very frustrated with him because he wants information quickly and does not realize sometimes it takes research. If he can not find it on the internet immediately, he blames the search engine (calls it dumb) and gives up. As a boomer myself I have many books in the home but he scoffs at them and says 'why should I look in them when I can use the internet'. If our technology ever fails the people in this genetation that are similar to my son will have no idea how to find the information in a book and ut it to use.
I am very optimistic about the use of technology in the classroom as provides an effecte way to teach students. It does have an impact on how the structure of a class does run but mainly technology has caused difficulty for the instructor/teacher. Educators learn to teach primarily by observing their predecessors, later they learn how to refine or modify their own teaching style but generally teaching has stayed the same until know. Currently, with the accessibility of technology and the dependency, teachers can not rely on old teaching methodology's which came from their grade school or post-secondary teachers; They have to completely reinvent their style and teaching approaches. The impact of technology is definitely good but has posed mostly challenges for the instructors.
Due to the their tech savvy nature, technology can be both helpful and a hindrance. Through technology we can "speak" to the Y's in a way that is both familiar and desired. However, I often think Y's take this for granted as well, and perhaps look at digital knowledge in the same way one might look a "spam."
It is very helpful for me to use technology to distribute class information, assignments, and projects using technology for this generation. They appreciate the ease of accessibility.
Connie,
and this is where we have a great opportunity to recognize the value of some of the information available on the internet & also help our students realize the value of information still stored in books.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Randall,
yes, there is definitely a certain "price of admission" regarding technology for this generation.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
From something positive there is always something negative.
Positive: Students are more aware of what happen around them.
Negative: They lose skills like writing, memorizing. For example, the speed dial is killing the skills of memorizing numbers or looking for a word trough a book dictionary.
Bruno,
and this is where we can look for ways to help them learn these skills since they are not using them nearly as much.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
It has both helped and hurt them. On the one hand, they can access and process information very quickly. On the other hand, they do not seem to be able to think critically as well as other students, and they don't seem to be able to write as well (research papers, etc.).
I see a lot of Gen Y students; they do have a good command on the newest technology but in every way it can help them it also hurts them. I find students have a difficult time (and so do I) understanding what's going on when automation does the entire process for you by just touching a few buttons. I try to have students do things manually every chance I get so a process can be broken down to it's simplest parts. It's best to learn to use as many different tools as you can so you can adapt to new situations. I try to help them understand that it is not very wise to be too reliant on anything, including the latest and greatest technology. I use a crutch anology to help them understand. You can use a crutch to support yourself but the harder you lean against it the harder you fall when it's no longer there.
It is interesting to me to see how some of my Gen Y students are very tech savvy and others are not! Also with the rapid changes in technology it is important as an instructor to keep up with what is the newest and most prefered methods of tech communication. For example, most of the Gen Y students rarely if ever check email, they much prefer Facebook or now, even Twitter.
Yes, I think technology has impacted my Gen Y students. It seems to be their preferred method of engagement and learning. This proves to be an additional way to reach them through the learning process.
Jeff,
this is a great point & a great perspective. We have a great opportunity to reach them by using various technologies in our approach.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
i am an instructor and half of what i teach is how to repair Mercedes Benz. most everything on theese cars is well planed but in order to work on them you need to look up the directions, read them and then follow to the letter step by step. i have found the Gen Y students have a problem with this. if it takes to much effort to look something up, they call for help. and even after they find the directions they don't read them all they skip over half to get to the end. then they call for help again and once more i try to guide them by asking leading questions. not all of the students like this ..they just want the answer..also i have found they have no critical thinking skills..i think as a country we need to take a hard look at what technology has done to our children.. i do not look forward to Gen Y when they grow up and take over.
Gen Y students always have technolgy at their fingertips. If they need an answer to something, they can immediately look it up online and "google" it. It is a good resource, but they should not only rely on technology alone. They should also know how to use other resources as well. Gen Y students need instant gratification. They may not take the extra steps necessary for learning, and may get frustrated if they cannot figure it out right away.
I'm going to be the odd one out (at least according to the first 3 replies i've seen) and say that technology has made it EASIER and better for Gen Yers to learn. Never before has there been access to so many different topics and at so many different levels.
one can find instruction manuals for many mechanical or technological devices, recipes for cooking, instructional videos for all types of arts and loads of forums, JUST like this one to helps them if they're stuck on something.
There does some times seem to be a challenge in encouraging discipline along with all of this info readily available. But I find it encouraging.
As instructors we have countless teaching assistants by simply having access to the internet
Keegan,
you make an excellent point here & I would agree that we need to see the value in the technology. True, as you stated, greater discipline is needed but we can help them learn this as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
They have instant access to information on a much broader range of topics than previous generations. They also expect instant answers to their questions.
I tottally agree with that , it seems that the less thinking they do the better off they are , lacking common sense is the biggest issue with lots of our students .
I found this course very interesting. Being a Gen X member myself, its hard to answer this without being a bit biased. It does seem to us older folks that there is a negative impact on learning for this Gen Y. However, I think part of this perception is that we don't completely understand how they learn because we are comparing to ourselves, and honestly are often frustrated by what we perceive to be disrespect (texting or checking things during a lecture) If they truly are better at multitasking and have the ability to do this and still listen, then we need to understand it's not disrespect...it's them multitasking.
