What’s in a Name? Digital Natives, Millennials, Net Generation

1. What’s in a Name? Digital Natives, Millennials, Net Generation Marilyn Puchalski Engagement Institute Spring 2007

2. About Whom Are We Speaking? • Born between 1982 and 2002 • Generation Y • Digital Natives (Marc Prensky) • Net Generation • Millennials (William Strauss & Neil Howe)

3. Marc Prensky’s Take • Digital Natives Technologically fluent • Digital Immigrants TSL – technology as a second language Speak with a “digital accent” • Prensky uses these terms to describe the disconnect between today’s learners and today’s teachers/parents

4. Digital Natives … • Rapid access to information from multiple sources • Multi-tasking • Multi-media over text • Random access to information • Networked interactions with multiple people • Just-in-time learning • Immediate rewards • Relevant, useful, fun learning

5. Digital Immigrants … • Controlled information access, limited sources • Doing one thing at a time • Text • Sequential information processing • Independent work • Deferred rewards • Serious learners

6. How do Natives use technology? • Communication (cell/email/IM) • Social Life (MySpace/IM) • Research • Productivity Applications • Organizing life (calendars/PDAs) • Shopping

7. Quiz… • Do you check email at least 3X a day? • Do you Google for information at least 5X a day? • Do you use your mobile phone for more than one thing? • Have you turned over remembering to a technology device? • Do you shop online more than the mall? • Do you have a wireless network at home? • Do you “text” instead of calling? • Do you IM?

8. Today’s Learners… are about access and interaction … anytime, anyplace.

9. Informal Learning Important • Learning ecology • Mobility make this possible • Social networking • Collaboration

10. What do Natives Expect? • Mobility (wireless, power) • Self help • Online answers • FAQs • Google • 24/7 services (tutorials, library, payments, tech support) • Communicate online • Use technology for learning (LMS,PPT, etc.)

11. What do Natives like? • Creativity – give them opportunities • Multimedia formats • Varied class activities (short segments) • Engagement with materials • Engagement with the world • Self help • Immediacy • Collaboration

12. What do Natives need? • Interaction with real people F2F • Peers • Faculty – low stakes, one-on-one conversations • Instruction about IL • Warnings about MySpace, etc. • Crash course in application software

13. The Millennial Generation:Blessing or Curse in the Classroom Terri M. Manning, EdD Director, Center for Applied Research Central Piedmont Community College

14. The Millennial Childhood • The most monumental financial boom in history. • Steady income growth through the 1990’s. • Still great disparity between races. • Saw their parents lose all their stocks and mutual funds (college funds) during the early 2000’s.

15. Demographic Trends • Smaller families: Only children will comprise about 10% of the population. • More parental education: 1 in 4 has at least one parent with a college degree. • Kids born in the late ‘90s are the first in American history whose mothers are better educated than their fathers by a small margin.

16. Major Influencing Factors • Their parents • The self-esteem movement • The customer service movement • Gaming and technology • Casual communication

17. Parenting Millennials • This generation is being parented by well-educated, over-involved adults who participate in “deliberate parenting.” They have outcomes in mind. • Boomers were the first generation to be thrown out in to an unsafe world as adolescents. • The 60’s and 70’s were very scary and many of us felt unprepared for it. • We were naïve and didn’t have enough tools in our tool box to deal with it.

18. Baby Boomers as Parents • Boomers rebelled against the parenting practices of their parents. • Strict discipline was the order of the day for boomers. • They made conscious decisions not to say “because I told you so” or “because I’m the parent and you’re the child.” • Boomers became more “friendly” with their children. They wanted to have open lines of communication and a relationship with them.

19. Baby Boomers as Parents • They explained things to their children, (actions, consequences, options, etc.) – they wanted them to learn to make informed decisions. • They allowed their children to have input into family decisions, educational options and discipline issues. • We told them “just because it is on television doesn’t mean it’s true” or “you can’t believe everything you read.” • We wanted them to question authority.

20. The Result • Millennials have become “a master set of negotiators” who are capable of rational thought and decision-making skills at young ages. • They will negotiate with anyone including their parents, teachers and school administrators. • Some call this “arguing.”

21. Helicopter Parents • Helicopter Parent (n)A parent who hovers over his or her children. • Or Snowplow parent: Parents who clear the way for their children • ……these (echo) boomers are confident, achievement-oriented and used to hovering "helicopter" parents keeping tabs on their every move. (Anthony DeBarros, "New baby boom swamps colleges," USA Today, January 2, 2003)

22. Baby Boomer Parents have been their Biggest Cheerleaders • Millennials expect and need praise. • Will mistake silence for disapproval. • Millennials expect feedback.

23. Focus on Self-esteem • This generation was the center of the “self-esteem” movement. • 9,068 books were written about self-esteem and children during the 80s and 90s (there were 485 in the 70s).

24. Focus on Self-esteem • The state of California spent millions studying the construct and published a document entitled “Toward a State of Self-esteem.” • Yet they can’t escape the angst of adolescence – they still feel disconnected, question their existence, purpose and the meaning of life. They want to feel valued and cared about.

25. Focus on Customer Service • Expect access (24/7) • Expect things to work like they are supposed to • If they don’t “that is your problem” • They want what they have paid for • Everything comes with a toll-free number or web address • Want a “system restore” option in classes

26. Add the Impact of Gaming • Gaming has impacted children • The game endings changed based on the decisions children made (Role Playing Games) impacting locus of control. • Involves a complex set of decision- making skills. • Teaches them to take multiple pieces of data and make decisions quickly. • Learning more closely resembles Nintendo, a trial and error approach to solving problems.

27. We navigated our way through…..

28. They navigated their way through…..

29. Technology • This generation has been plugged in since they were babies. • They grew up with educational software and computer games. • They think technology should be free. • They want and expect services 24/7. • They do not live in an 8–5 world. • They function in an international world.

30. Millennials Want to Learn With technology With each other Online In their time In their place Doing things that matter (most important) Source: Achievement and the 21st Century Learner.

31. By age 21….. • It is estimated that the average child will have: • Spent 10,000 hours playing video games • Sent 200,000 emails • Spent 20,000 hours watching TV • Spent 10,000 hours on their cell phone • Spent under 5,000 hours reading • But these are issues of income. Will a child who grows up in a low income household have these same experiences? Source: Educause

32. What About 1st Generation Students? • Not all students will be proficient; first-generation and students from working class families may have less experience. • Their experience with technology has been in arcades and minimally in school (poorer districts.) • They have not had the exposure to educational uses of technology.

33. What About 1st Generation Students? • We need another placement test – remedial keyboarding and technology. • Huge digital divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” based on income levels (class). • Digital divide is appearing in pre-K.

34. The “Information Age” Mindset • Students have never known life without the computer. It is an assumed part of life. • The Internet is a source of research, interactivity, and socializing (they prefer it over TV). • Doing is more important than knowing. • There is zero tolerance for delays. • The infrastructure and the lecture tradition of colleges may not meet the expectations of students raised on the Internet and interactive games.

35. Cell Phone Technology • They all have cell phones and expect to be in contact 24/7. • Not a phone – a lifestyle management tool • Staying “connected” is essential. • Communication is a safety issue for parents. • Communication has become casual for students (IM, email and cell phones. • How has this changed how they interact with faculty?

36. Issues for Schools, Colleges and Universities in an Information Age • Plagiarism (consumer/creator blurring) • Cheating (must define it) • Cell Phone Policies • Typing vs. Handwriting • Use of paper mills From: The Information Age Mindset: Changes in Students and Implications for Higher Education. By Jason L. Frand. Educause. Sep/Oct 2000.

37. Attitudes …….. Source: Educause

38. 2004 Research Study • Central Piedmont Community College’s Center for Applied Research was contracted to do this study by the Workforce Development Board. • Data collected January–March 2004 from the University of NC at Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College and Johnson C. Smith University. Funded By:

39. Some Major Themes From the Study • They like teachers who pay attention to their needs, schedules and interests. • They like working in teams but are not given a lot of opportunity to do so. • Their job expectations immediately out of college are not as high as previous generations (65% expect to earn 40K or less). • They want to do meaningful work (more important than money)

40. Some Major Themes • They expect to have 4–6 jobs in their lifetime. • They expect to someday acquire the lifestyle they grew up with. • They expect to have a 2-income family. • Security and time for family are the two most important quality of life variables. • Think their parents did a great job and don’t think their generation can improve family life over how their parents raised them.

41. How They Will Push Us… • More independence in the workforce • Consumer-based fairness • Better technology • Enhanced professional development • Get rid of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” • Have more life balance • Re-establish priorities

42. So How Do We Work With Them? • Because they have grown up in a different world, never assume that they know certain things like: • You don’t want to talk to their mother when they are having problems. • You don’t get points for showing up or an A for effort. • The definition of plagiarism and cheating.

43. So How Do We Work With Them? • It’s not appropriate to call the professor at home after 9pm. • They can’t use IM language in papers. • It’s not okay to email the professor 10 times a day. • That when they email you at 3am, you’re not sitting on the other end waiting to respond to them. • The business office (and most others) close at 5pm.

44. What Should Institutions Do? • Develop policies and practices around appropriate communication (by department). • Give them access to as much as is philosophically possible. • Draw a line on negotiations. • Stop existing in an 8-5 world. • Look into what is known about learning. • Try to actively engage them. • Create alterative ways for the low-tech students to come up to speed.

45. What does this mean for engagement?How are we defining engagement?

46. Pascarella and Terenzini… Characteristics of learning and development (6 Touchstones) Encounter challenging ideas/people Engage those challenges Requires supportive environment Involves real-world activities Is a social activity Is not limited by time or space

47. Rules of Engagement • Capture their attention • Convince them to care (WIIFM) • Motivate them to own their learning • Provide them with choices • Connect them to each other and to you • Induce them to participate • Make it an experience to remember Ellen D. Wagner, Adobe, Inc.

48. BCCC and Engagement • What are we doing well? • What do we need to improve? • What do we need to move forward?

49. Resources • Marc Prensky • http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/ • Millennials Rising http://www.williamstrauss.com/ • Educause Learning Initiative • http://www.educause.edu/eli • ECAR Key Findings • http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=EKF0607