Wendy,
this is a great point as it really helps our students to be able to think critically through various situations & come to appropriate conclusions.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I am reading from other that the technology today has had a negative impact on the learning of our Gen Y individuals. While this may have some truth to it we have to accept it and find ways to teach with it because it is not going away. I am a baby boomer and have to write things down, re-read notes, and like a quiet study environment. The Gen Y students are used to studying while listening to music, texting and surfing the web and talking to others all at the same time. Somehow they seem to handle this because they are graduating from colleges and moving into professional careers. I think as instructors we need to realize that this is how they structure their lives and we need to find ways to educate and develop their critical thinking skills as much as possible, and find ways to do this using the same technology they are using as well.
Lori
Because students are so reliant on technology and have grown up with it they no longer have the ability to think through problems. They expect all their problems to go awway instantly with the push of a button. Technology is a fantastic thing, but it seems our student today have not been given any direction on how to use it in a way that would be to their advantage.
Generation Y students have to have technology to do anything. I think the constant stimulation has had somewhat of an adverse effect upon some learners. There is a group of students that is not able to learn in a quiet environment. I think Gen Y learners are also very tactile. They learn better by touching, moving, or hearing things simultaneously as they solve problems. Although I believe in spell-checking software, I question whether it has lessened the importance of being a good speller.
Yes! I have to agree with you totally. I also have to say that it is up to us as teachers to create situations where the students can see perhaps, the moral dilemmas that people in our past have faced, and how they were solved. Relating that to current events makes it more relevant.
I have even done this in classes with career college students. I can ask them to tell me the most important points in the technical manuals they are reading and have them tell me why they are important, rather than rote learning or the more common cut-and-paste.
I've been reading where cursive writing is being phased out of public school curricula. The thinking is that it is no longer needed. As tools such as tablets become more available and widely used, future generations will no longer have to write in long hand. That strikes me and others of my generation as ridiculous if not scary. I hope those in the public schools will at least continue to learn to print!
Like a lot of you teachers, I have found that a lot of my students cannot write in the physical sense, but neither can they write in the mental sense. I've also found that students right out of HS have the same attitude towards college they had before - that the quickest way through is the best, even if it does require cheating or any other means. Who cares about learning?
In reading over this last paragraph, I realize it sounds rather jaded, and to at least an extent, that may be true. But I do have hope for these students as many of them drop out from lack of motivation. When they come back to career or community colleges after being kicked around by life for a bit, they are much more likely to be interested and wanting to learn. Hurrah for the returning students!
David,
and a key point to realize here is that the tech gadgets are natural for them. Just like it was natural for us to have our steno notebooks & Big Chief paper tablets, this generation has their smartphones & tablets. Instead of doodling, they're surfing the web. Have things changed that much?
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have witnessed firsthand how technology has impacted the learning process of Generation Y students. Unlike me, the students in my English class do not need to be taught how to use a tablet or a smartphone. They grew up surrounded with these types of gadgets. I did grow up with VCRs and Pac-Man, but these things are utterly foreign to my students. As a result, integrating current tech gadgets into the learning process is almost a necessity when teaching Generation Y. They will not learn very well if teachers try to force old-school pencil-and-paper methods of learning onto them. As educators, we must adapt to this or become obsolete.
I agree that this is true. I find myself teaching students how to study frequently. I don't think that we can blame this on technology. I think that teachers along the way should still be instilling these skills along with teaching them how to use technology to learn.
I think impacted may be the wrong word. I think technology IS an integral part of the learning process for GEN Y students. They can't even imagine writing a paper or doing research that doesn't involved using a computer, searching the internet and/or collaborating with other peers. Gen Y students don't seem to be memorizers rather they are 'pathers'. They usually don't snap out an answer from their memory, but give them a smart phone and a few seconds and they can find the answer in three or four different places, and, usually make distinctions between which source is better and why.
Being a Boomer myself, I think it has made them too dependent on technology. They don't know how to concentrate on anything, they always have to be in contact with their friends instead of focusing on learning. Very short attention span!
technology seems to make them lazy. they dont want to put the extra effort in
Kelly,
this is a troublesome area to me too. In general, I've found Gen Y learners less willing to really learn for learning sake, but rather they tend to want a lot of spoonfeeding.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As it applies to my classroom, it has made it a necessity. Power Point presentations are much more effective, because they tend to avoid reading assignments. They also expect that all information regarding their progress in the class be "ala minute", as in they expect it right away. I have seen this result in some students doing only what is necessary to achieve certain goals where grades are concerned.
Technology has made a large impact on the learning process for Gen Y'ers. They are able to look up facts in an instant with their smart phones or tablets. They tend to want answers immediately and simply. They are more comfortable typing assignments than hand writing them.
Technology is a double edge sword when it comes to the generation Y learners. It can been a great learning tool to assist students in the learning process. It can also be a bad for studnets when they rely to heavily on technology and do not learn "old school" methods. What if the technology shuts down or stops working? What will happen then?
Generation Y is highly impacted by technology. My Gen Y students pretend instead of taking notes in class like old generations did to pick up their cellulars to take pictures of my notes on the board or to take pictures of the power points given in class. I never expected to have to establish in my classes as a rule do not use your cellular to take pictures of the materials being taught.
Hi Dale,
I concur with your thoughts, it is difficult for them to retain and recall the information they find. They are whizzes at finding the information and generally have an abundance of it; however, they don't necessarily question their source(s).
Rose,
and we have a great opportunity to take their seeming inherent curiosity & help them understand better the entire learning process.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As long as the technnology is working, e.g., calculators are available, Gen Ys should be fine. The disadvantage is this dependency requires a robust technological infrastructure which is not ubiquitously available. The advantage is that Gen y students know optimal use of computers, mobile devices, etc. Many times I have had to ask students to help me with DVDs on the computer & operating the overhead. Invariably they know how to make it work.
