Catering to Generations of Learners
Generation X & Y and Millenials are offsprings of a digital birth, a fast-paced childhood, and a solitary existence strive to utilize its skills and creativity to control their environments. The solitary nature of life is both increased and decreased with each computer link. The known world has become closer through the technological linkage.
Students are drawn in by the sights and sounds of the AIU Online classroom. The layout is slick, professional and visually stimulating. Do your announcements, chats, and emails fit in? Online students are most likely heavy internet and computer users and their visual tastes have been molded by the activity. Creating announcements that look and sound like webpages is appealing to students.
Stacie,
Yes, many people add color or pictures or something to "catch" students' attention. We do have a personality online and we want it to be professional, but we can have fun and be professional too. ;-)
Absolutely! This is a great point! I make sure that my announcements are lively, colorful, even humorous at times. I need to and want to draw the students in. I have to keep them engaged and intrigued about what I will do next. We must create an online personality, presence, and energy within our online classrooms. Reaching out to the students via phone as well also helps tremendously!
Juliet,
Ah - it's so important that you note changing your teaching style to meet the students' needs. I also explain to the students how we all have strengths and weaknesses and various learning personalities and they may need to "edit" their learning personality on some assignments to do well. Thanks!
I work in a multigenerational workplace, and taught in a school where the student base was as well. It can be difficult at times, and I needed to tweak my teaching style to encompass their strengths and weaknesses. It was though, an amazing learning experience for me as the instructor to find ways to assist them in interacting positively, in a manner that enhanced their (and my) learning. It is an amazing sociological experiment!
Elie,
Makes sense. There is a fine line between education and entertainment and it's edutainment. ;-)
Thanks for your input.
I try to make them look as current as possible, but with that comes the dilemma. Yes generation X & Y are very dependent digital technology to motivate and drive them, but I think if you make your online class looks exactly as a web page that they relate to or go to all the time they loose the perspective that this is a learning class and not entertainment. So I think you do need to create and update web pages if you use them as part of your online learning tool, but they should not be as busy or resemble what the students look at and use all the time.
Lori,
It's always good to think about what you are saying/writing. You may find some things that you do differently make a big difference. If so, please share with us. ;-)
Even though I know and understand the different generations, the way you put it makes me reevaluate my announcements and emails. I usually only focus on my Live Chats, but now I need to add more interest to my announcements and emails. Thanks for the information.
Victoria,
Wow! With 80% under the age of 35, that can be a good and bad thing. They all will have similar characteristics in some areas, but they may need some "older" generation to learn from. In my case, that older generation would be me. ;-) Ha! Thanks for your input. The hyperlinks in the announcements with pictures will help them visually see the need for what they are learning.
Very well put. The school I teach at caters to roughly 80% of the gen X and millennials with most under the age of 35. I think it is not only important to ensure the delivery of your course is interactive and engaging but it is important that you can understand the needs of your students and their generational preferences and how this compares to your teaching style.
I try to include live hyperlinks in my announcements with pictures so that they do not seem so flat. I find students respond well to this for the very reasons you have mentioned in your post.
Michael,
It is good to think about the different generations and what they "bring to the table.". Thanks for your input.
You refer to Generation x and Y. Many of students are baby boomers, young and old, not use to today technologies, although learning. They come from different eras of learning. I think having a good understanding of the history of that prior experience can help in the delivery of material that compliments the established learning methods.
Dr. Thomas,
Good point. We many times see/hear about generational differences, but there is a blurred line between many generations. Thanks for you input.
I don't think there is a big differenct in the generations X & Y when it comes to learning. In fact many of the younger students learn a great deal from these senior students.
Quiana,
That is so true. Thanks for bringing that thought into the conversation. We do all have different motivations.
Thanks!
I would also add that the generations needed have different motivations for attending school. We must also appeal to those different motivations as well.
Catherine,
Visual learners really appreciate the graphics. Anything you can do to engage students of different learning styles is great. Just be careful not to use too many bells and whistles as it can be distracting. Thanks again.
I have found that adding graphics helps make the course look more interesting. I have not found that the generational differences make as big a difference as one would think. The younger generations are more adept with technology. But the older students have had to learn so much to be professionally proficient and they have the work ethic. They also realize how much things like the online database has simplified research and life. You just have to be cognizant of different learning styles across the board, regardless of generation.
Geri,
Keeping up with technology changes is difficult, but we have to keep learning and figuring out what works for our students. We do not want to be left behind.
