ellen,
I completely agree. A major part of our job as instructors, I believe, is to help our students learn how to find information & evaluate the same for validity, etc.
Dr. Ryan Meers
ellen,
you are right & we need to be aware that their "facts" may not be very reliable, but we have to be ready to back ours up.
Dr. Ryan Meers
That is certainly true-and often they do not have the educational background to evaluate the source of information. I think, as instructors, it is important to teach students how to gauge the validity of information and the source and be able to decide if sources are biased in a particular way.
so true. It is really incredible to me that some people do not fact check becauyse it is so very easy for anybody to call you on something , given that everyone has internet on their phone.
Keeps one on your toes!
Sandi,
I agree in that I've found the references to popular culture seem to resonate & even help with learning the concepts & retention.
Dr. Ryan Meers
melanie,
I agree & in this we need to make sure we are being clear on what they are learning & why it's valuable.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I agree more hands on activities directly related to course objectives and popular culture. I often make analogies to news items and popular culture to increase student motivation and retention.
To help the Generation Y learner achieve the course objectives, interactive learning activities and practice tests must be created that utilize technology and provide immediate feedback. Additionally, the curriculum should include collaborative assignments such as group projects and discussion boards.
carole,
you are very right; I would almost say they "demand" more feedback & relevancy than older learners.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Donna,
you are very well immersed in this type of learning environment for sure.
Dr. Ryan Meers
carole,
I have found that need for immediate feedback to be very true with my students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Generation Y learners want more feedback and relevancy than older learners.
I personally like the Gen Y approach - interactive, playful, focused on gaming, which is a great way to stimulate critical and analytic thinking. I teach exclusively online, so I have had to engage the learner in these types of activities for some time.
Definitely the comment about immediate feedback rings true as well as consideration for their personal needs and issues.
Kevin,
great point. And be ready to challenge them on their sources, in a positive way. As has been said, they're used to finding info, but not necessarily checking the authority behind it. They may challenge you with a less than reliable source, so this can be used to demonstrate the need to check the source's credibility.
Dr. Ryan Meers
You hit on something really important when you said "always check your facts." Gen Yers will hear something during a lecture and immediately look it up...be prepared for that and know the reliability of your sources and the prospect for some argumentation. A lot of subjects, even in the training environment can be controversial, so make sure your sources are the best they can be and welcome the interaction. They could just as well be facebooking during class so if they're engaged in argument, you're doing something right.
Chris,
great point here. While the new technologies can be overwhelming & sometimes intimidating, there are many possibilities for improving our instruction.
Dr. Ryan Meers
ellen,
you are very right on all of these points. Another key skill we can teach Gen Yers is to become good customers of information. Often a skill that is lacking when they are bombarded with so much info.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Sandra,
this is definitely true. What strategies have you found to be successful?
Dr. Ryan Meers
It allows us to teach in a different manner. We can use resources from the internet to display during class or use email to answer student questions.
