Gen Y Notes
Sections:
|
Motivate your millennials!
"As cheekily reported recently by 60 Minutes, some are indeed coming into the workforce with an attitude of entitlement."
Labels:
Negative Characteristics "It would be wrong, however, for us to focus on their attitudes when we, as library leaders, really need to change our attitudes, adjust our tactics for reaching this new generation, and act as inclusive leaders."
Who needs to give in this generational difference? It seems that this librarian feels that library leaders need to "change our attiudes" and "adjust our tactics" and "act as inclusive leaders" Labels:
New Attitudes "The upcoming generation of librarians is not only tech-savvy, like their student counterparts, they are ready to challenge and change the face and content of the programs we provide as well as how we deliver library service."
Here are a few positive characteristics of Millennials that might threaten some librarians that have always run their program the same way. Labels:
Characteristics "forward-thinking programs needed to align library programs with the information services that faculty and students increasingly need, want, and demand."
Libraries need to be flexible and focus on meeting the needs of their patrons. Labels:
New Attitudes "Indeed, your primary role as "leader of the library environment" may be to keep the excitement and idea exchange going strong."
Is this similar with students? Do we, as educators, need to see what students are excited about and then encourage that idea? Should we help them by giving their ideas more structure, direction, and follow through? Labels:
New Attitudes, strategies "BRAINSTORM "WHAT IF"
Rather than fight against new ideas, help with the brainstorming process. Labels:
strategies "IMPLEMENT "WHAT IS"
Give structure,wisdom, and experience to the implementation process of a new idea. Labels:
New Attitudes, strategies "REVIEW "WHAT WAS"
One weakness that several articles point out of Millennials might be that tend not to reflect. Someone from an older generation might be the person to help encourage and support the reflection and review of an implemented idea. Labels:
New Attitudes, strategies "According to a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project, with 18-to 21-year-olds more likely to IM, create blogs, and text message, reference service may have to meet them halfway. Not surprisingly, NextGen librarians are excited about incorporating these tools into library service because they also use them outside the library."
Do tools like IM and blogs help to meet the needs of students. IM seems to foster quick and immediate communication. Blogging might be useful for posting notes, handouts, and other resources that students will find useful in studying and completing assignments. Labels:
strategies "you are collaborating and partnering with colleagues who may streamline processes and deliver services to a greater number of hardwired students and faculty."
Millennials may not have all of the answers but they might have their own characteristics that can improve a library program or even a classroom. Labels:
Characteristics, New Attitudes Brick and click libraries
"Diane Zabel reminds us to incorporate “active learning and team activities” into our library
instruction activities because millennial students, born 1988 and after, respond best to these approaches." Is a team activity good because it is a strategy comfortable to millennials or because it is a skill that they will need once they get a job? Labels:
strategies, Characteristics "Roving reference is no longer about walking around and asking students if they need
help. Roving reference entails using one’s notebook or PDA to connect to the wireless network and access web forums where students congregate online (Zabel)." How would this look in a high school setting? Students would mostly need online assistance from home. Could one media specialist keep online office hours in the evening? Labels:
strategies "Janet Balas suggests we use Blogs, wikis, chat reference, as well as the more traditional online services such as virtual access to online databases and catalogs, and library Web sites to serve our virtual users."
I have found with my student body that many students still do not know what a wiki really is. With such huge differences in students' technology knowledge, how do we use these tools to effectively meet as many patrons as possible? Labels:
strategies, Libraries, services "Users will become accustomed
to these tools in everyday life and will come to expect them as part of normal service. It
is critical to the future success of library service that librarians and the library institution
Brick and Click Libraries Symposium Proceedings
November 3, 2006
21
become fluent in the planning, process, and practice of these tools."
This quote is referring to using podcast as a part of the library program. Labels:
strategies, Libraries, services Brick and click libraries: Fast, Cheap and Out of (Our) Control
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content... "Rather than offering an iron-clad guarantee of service hours, we would assume that the average IM user is perfectly comfortable with finding a “buddy” away from their computer and trying again later, thus freeing up the hours of the service to better fit with librarians’ availability."
IMing could be implemented in a media center in a way that could also remain flexible. Labels:
services, Libraries Brick and click libraries: Fast, Cheap and Out of (Our) Control
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content... "Moreover, satisfaction with the service by the core librarians has been high, with some of the initially skeptical embracing and enjoying the service. Though with IM service we sacrifice some of the control we might have with our legacy VR system, we may very well make up for it with the high use and good will that IM service generates."
This quote is referring to using IMing as a way to answer patrons questions. Users seem to respond well. Labels:
services, Libraries Brick and click libraries: Fast, Cheap and Out of (Our) Control
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content... "We
had thought that IM queries would tend toward fast questions with discrete answers, akin to
those questions that we generally label “directional.” What we found instead is that the amount
of users asking fairly in-depth “reference” questions is actually very high, in fact always the
majority of questions (see table 1). This might make the service sound more daunting, but along
with this fact we also found that doing more in-depth reference is actually easier in the IM
environment than we expected."
It is surprising that students are comfortable asking in-depth questions over IM. It is also surprising that librarians found it easier to answer those questions than they expected. Labels:
strategies, Libraries Brick and click libraries: Fast, Cheap and Out of (Our) Control
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content... "We have already had patrons ask during transactions if we “were really in the library,” so there is not necessarily an expectation that we are."
IMing is a service that might appeal to students and could be done at home by a media specialist. Labels:
services, Libraries Welcoming a new generation to college
"This newest generational cohort, the Millennials, builds upon the values instilled by the Baby Boomers while also filling the cultural void left by the departing G.I. generation."
Labels:
Characteristics "they felt the steady support of protective parents concerned
about their safety, their schooling and their academic and extracurricular success"
Before this quote the article mentions that millennials have seen "live" Desert Storm coverage and watched the Columbine shootings unfold. They have been use to live and immediate their whole life. Labels:
Characteristics "Growing up in this cultural environment has instilled in
Millennial students a number of positive qualities. They are hardworking
and have been socialized by supportive parents to be
successful in life. They have engaged in numerous academic, extracurricular and service pursuits; in helping others and addressing social problems, they are thought to be both generous and practical (Howe and Strauss, 2000; Woodard, Love and Komives, 2000) Their hectic lives have accustomed them to structuring time, working from schedules and following rules (Howe and Strauss, 2000; Lancaster and Stillman, 2002)."
A list of characteristics of Millennials. Labels:
Characteristics "Along with this structured lifestyle is the expectation that, as
students, they will be required to complete some form of standardized
testing to demonstrate appropriate educational achievement. As a
result, they are used to being assessed, receiving focused feedback,
and being goal-directed (Coomes and DeBard, 2004; Howe and Strauss,
2000)."
The role that education has played in shaping Millennials. Labels:
Characteristics "Having participated in group-projects at
school, they are team-oriented, socially networked, and able to
organize and mobilize (Coomes and DeBard, 2004; Howe and
Strauss, 2000; Lancaster and Stillman, 2002)"
The role that education has played in shaping Millennials. Labels:
Characteristics "Despite these positive qualities, Millennial students also present
challenges to teachers, counselors and administrators at both the
high school and collegiate levels. They are often exceedingly close
to their parents, who assume participatory roles in their children’s
educational pursuits (Coomes and DeBard, 2004; Howe and Strauss,
2000; Murray, 1997). In this capacity, parents may serve as advisors
and active advocates for their children––initiating interactions with
educational faculty, staff and administrators."
Parents act as advocates in the lives of many Millennial students. Labels:
Characteristics "Some researchers also fear that Millennial students, being
over-reliant on communications technology, will have stunted interpersonal
(face-to-face) skills."
Is this true of most Millennials or just a segment of MillenialsMost students that I see at school seem to spend a lot of time face-to-face with their peers. Labels:
Negative Characteristics "Others have expressed similar
concerns that the ease with which Millennial students routinely
engage in multitasking behaviors, enabled in part through the
use of technology, has shortened their collective attention span."
Is it a bad thing that students have a shorter attention span or will they be equipped to deal with a world that expects them to multitask? Labels:
Negative Characteristics "Finally, having completed primary and secondary curricula that
may unintentionally encourage rote learning, these students may
lack the skills necessary to be critical thinkers or demonstrate
introspection and self-reflection (Murray, 1997)."
Is this true and have schools actually played a role in reducing students' abilities to think critically and self-reflect? Labels:
Negative Characteristics "Indeed, Murray (1997) contends that virtually all aspects of the Millennial child’s life were planned and executed to achieve success,
as parents worked to find activities at which each child could excel." Millennials are use to having parents who are strong advocates for them. Labels:
Characteristics "Authors Neil Howe and William Strauss (2000) contend that key
defining attitudes and behaviors distinguish the Millennial generation
of students now entering college. Specifically, it is argued
that Millennial students are: 1) conventionally motivated and
respectful; 2) structured rule followers; 3) protected and sheltered;
4) cooperative and team-oriented; 5) talented achievers;
and 6) confident and optimistic about their futures––all of which
have implications for educators at all levels (Strange, 2004)."
Knowing what Millennials are like can help in deciding what learning strategies will work best for them. Labels:
Characteristics "Murray (1997) suggests that university administrators be prepared to
display authoritative expertise, reinforce motivation, invest in
outcome, and celebrate victories."
The suggestion for authoritative expertise seems opposite of another article that suggests that students don't like to be talked at. This author bases this suggestion on the fact that students are use to being "directed and nurtured by both their parents and teachers." Labels:
Characteristics, strategies "Second, as structured rule followers, it is also believed that
Millennial college students will be less distrustful of policies,
procedures and processes than the earlier Generation X or Baby Boom
cohorts"
This quote might go hand-in-hand with the idea that Millennials need a reason for everything. They do not want to just do things a certain way because that is how they have always been done. Labels:
Characteristics, strategies "Demonstrating that college policies and procedures are reviewed
routinely, communicated periodically and displayed in multiple formats
(i.e., in written booklets, on the Web) adds to the trust that
Millennial students have in a higher education institution."
This strategy could also be effective in high school. Students always want to know why a rule is what it is. Labels:
strategies "Desiring to work cooperatively on projects
that have meaning and will make a difference (Zemke, 2001),
Lancaster and Stillman (2002) believe that Millennials will feel
empowered to take positive action when things go wrong."
Key point: "projects that have meaning and will make a difference" Labels:
Characteristics, strategies "Fifth, long pressured to excel, Millennial students will
have high expectations for their own success as undergraduates.
As such, they may also have clearly defined objectives,
and will actively seek help in accomplishing their goals."
This may be true of college bound high school students, but is it true of all high school students? Many students have confessed to me that they are just trying to get by. Labels:
Characteristics "As counselors,
advisors, educators, and administrators, we can nurture their
“can-do” attitudes, civic-minded proclivities and empathic concerns
in hopes they may ultimately lead to large-scale societal
improvements. Linking students to local, as well as national and even international initiatives, allows students to define their role within a community, society and the world."
As educators, we can design projects and activities that tap into these qualities. Labels:
strategies, Characteristics "While many Millennials have been reared in middle- and upper-class environments offering ample opportunities, others may not have enjoyed these same advantages."
There could be big differences in students raised in middle- and upper-class homes than those who are not as advantaged. Labels:
Characteristics "To accomplish this requires a
constant reexamination of our assumptions and policies related
to the goals and aspirations of this generation and how we can
effectively assist in successfully achieving them."
We constantly need to reevaluate our assumptions and see what students are really like. This will help us to make the changes to our library media program that are needed. Labels:
New Attitudes Teens, technology, and school
"Teen use of the internet at school has grown 45% since 2000"
It is not surprising that internet access has increased as the amount of information and online databases has increased. Labels:
Current Trends "However, 37% of teens say they believe that “too many” of their peers are using the internet to cheat."
Shouldn't we be designing papers and projects whose final products cannot be found on the internet? Labels:
Negative Characteristics "Further, there is widespread agreement among teens and their parents that the internet can be a useful tool for school."
Teens seem to see value in using the internet as a tool at school. Labels:
Characteristics "large numbers of teens and adults have used the web to search for information about colleges and universities."
It is useful to know what kinds of information that teens use the internet to find. Labels:
Current Trends "The most recent Pew Internet Project survey finds that 87% of all youth between the ages of 12 and 17 use the internet."
Most teenagers are familiar with the internet...but not all. Labels:
Current Trends "Interestingly, less than 1% of online teenagers who go online from school say that school is their only location of access. This means that while many teenagers do go online at school, very few rely exclusively on their school’s internet connections. These teens find additional locations outside of school to connect online, even if they are not wired at their own home."
Teens are finding ways to get online after school. This might indicate that using tools like IMing will not leave students out that do not have internet access at home. Labels:
Current Trends "While school can be a location that allows teens to get access to the web when they do not have access as readily elsewhere, those teens with online access at home are able to go online much more frequently."
We still need to be sensitive to students who do not have an easy way to connect to the internet after school Labels:
Current Trends "Three-quarters of online teens use instant messaging – that represents close to 16 million youth."
There is a lot of familiarity with IMing amongst teens. Labels:
Current Trends The internet as a resource for news and information about science
The internet as a resource for news and information about science
www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Exploratorium_Science... "Younger internet users, those with high-speed connections, and those with a lot of online experience are more likely to have encountered science information online...71% of those under 30 have come upon science information when they went online for another reason."
It seems that people under 30 are using the internet in such a way that in looking for one topic they end up also encountering scientific information. How much of that information is retained? Do they have a sufficient context to place this new information in? Are they interested in the information that they come across? Labels:
Current Trends The internet as a resource for news and information about science
www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Exploratorium_Science... From a table in the article: Labels:
Current Trends How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "The research methods, again, does have a tendency to be boring, but he breaks up the monotony in his lectures; he puts little clips from YouTube. … And they were just comical; they were just funny, and he incorporated the comedy into the lecture itself, and it just made it interesting, and I want to go to class. …"
Breaking up a lecture seems to be helpful just as this student pointed out the use of YouTube to add comedy. I would be interested to see if the comedy portion helped students to remember the information better or if it was just for entertainment sake. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "My math professor … is amazing. For math class, she is the one that made me become a math minor. I took calc, going into it scared, and came out of it with great grades. She is very organized, very thorough, and she demonstrates that she cares for the students and she is willing to help the students and go at their pace. …"
The key words that stick out are "very organized, very thorough," "cares for the students," "willing to help the students," "go at their pace." This student had a fear that the teacher overcame with effective strategies. These strategies did not include fancy technology tools but an attitude difference. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "I really like this class because it is hybrid, which means it is half online and half in person. … And we go once a week, and all the tests are online. … We do not have to sit there for an hour and a half, and he has all the PowerPoints online, so he does the lectures in class, and the Power Points are online so just in case you want to go back. …"
The students' time is respected by using the class time for delivering important information. Things that don't need to be done in class such as test are shifted to an online setting. Also, the teacher posts slides online to help the students use their class time to listen. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "I think the online classes and the hybrid is a good thing if they are organized and the teacher takes the time or the instructor takes the time to set up the course and facilitate the course. It can be a disaster, and I think we all have some bad experiences where the instructor was not familiar with the technology and that caused all sorts of delays, problems, anxiety."
Students expect teachers to be prepared. They want their time to be spent productively, to be engaged, and they like when someone knows their stuff. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "In my core humanities class we watched a Charlie Chaplin short, and we read a bunch of essays about the differences between how women evolved from the 1920s to the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. And we had to take the relationships we saw on the Chaplin short and relate them to the essays that we read. I think it helped me a lot because it was fun and I learned a lot."
Strategy: using comparison between essays and a video. This teacher used media not just to entertain but to help students understand a concept. As the student pointed out, she "learned a lot", and that was important to her. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... " I had a class that was all computers. … And it was a statistics class, and she also used the overhead projector to project what she was displaying on her computer. … I preferred it because I was able to go online and see where she was at, what she was doing. I'm more of a hands-on learner. …"
This student seems to like "hands-on" and interactive teaching strategies. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "As far as using library for research, I do most of my research online with online libraries, but last time I went to the library it was probably three months ago. And I usually only go there to get books for pleasure, not for school."
This comment from a student seems to agree with what I am seeing in my media center. There are still a sizable group of students who use the media center to check out fiction or other books for pleasure. Labels:
Characteristics, Libraries How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "Question: Are you comfortable with a lecture style that is just a guy speaking to you, or do you think that colleges should add more flair or more pizzazz to lectures through video and PowerPoint, electronic stuff, and so on? Laura: Well, with the professor just lecturing to you it can get boring, so I think they need to. If they do not already have flair, they need to just add a little more instead of just lecturing notes. Deanna: I agree with her 100 percent. When there is a teacher lecturing to you in the front of the room, it is really boring. You do not get involved, and you tend to kind of zone out the whole time. I need more bells and whistles to keep my attention." Students do not connect as well with someone at the front of the room lecturing. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "I think what they really should look at is how businesses are doing business because the student could say they want to learn a certain way, but if business is not working like that, they might not be prepared to actually go into the work force. So I think you definitely need to look at what the corporate world is doing and try to match with them in some ways."
Should we worry less about what students like and focus more on what they need to be prepared? Do we really even know what the business world will be like when they graduate in order to prepare them? Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=9&sid=c81... "How many of you think that your average lecture is exciting? Show of hands. Now how many of you think your average lecture is boring? [Most students raise their hands on "boring."]"
I think that students find a lecture particularly boring when they do not see relevance and when there are no meaningful visuals to break up the monotony. Labels:
Old School Issues How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "I took psychology with this professor. … She was an excellent teacher, and I learned a lot, and she made it fun. … She did in-class activities, or she would play something for us or do experiments on us to teach us. … She had one of her students come in and yell at her to get a reaction from us. …"
Creative teacher who really thinks outside the box. Labels:
strategies How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "When was the last time you read a book not for school? For fun, from cover to cover? …"
I think the expected result was that they don't but from the students responses it seems like almost all had read a book over the summer or sometime recent. I remember not wanting to read while in college because of the great quantity of reading that I was doing for school. The college and even high school years may not be a great indication of life-long readers. Labels:
Characteristics How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "I probably have about three really close friends right now."
Most of the students responded with between two to five friends. They see their friends in person and talk to them using technology such as cell phones, text message, MySpace, email. Labels:
Characteristics How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "Mr. Sweeney argues that Millennials, who were born between roughly 1980 and 1994, have grown up with more choices and more selectivity in the products and services they use, which is why they do not have, for example, a generational music."
The key here is that they are use to choices and selectivity in products and services Labels:
Characteristics How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "'The key issue is whether or not they grew up with video games, and whether they expect that kind of interactivity,' he told the audience. Whether they're using Facebook, MySpace, iPods, instant messaging, or text messaging, Millennials are plugged in."
They expect interactivity and are use to being plugged in. Labels:
Characteristics How the New Generation of Well-Wired Multitaskers Is Changing Campus Culture
web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=5&sid=cb4... "Some other traits of Millennials: They rarely read newspapers -- or, for that matter, books. They are impatient and goal oriented. They hate busywork, learn by doing, and are used to instant feedback. They want it now. They think it's cool to be smart. They have friends from different ethnic backgrounds. They want flexibility -- in the classroom and in their lives. "To get this generation involved, you have to figure out a way to engage them and make their learning faster at the end of the day," Mr. Sweeney said."
Key is engagement. They have different qualities than other generations which might indicate that different strategies should be used with them. How are millennial teachers teaching differently than teachers from another generation? Labels:
Characteristics, strategies Everything I know in 15 minutes
Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "In technology, we have too long been content with window dressing – computers used as typewriters, data projectors used as overheads, websites used as school brochures, software used as worksheets. We have an expression in Minnesota for this sort of thing – it’s like putting lipstick on a pig."
Labels:
Old School Issues Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "Personal motivation and relevance for learning would be a prime ingredient in education."
Strategy used in the UGA IDD program...project topics are selected by the students which often are connected to their job. Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "Constructivism would be the main pedagogy, not a once-a-year term paper or project."
How would this look day to day in the classroom? Would teachers have a hard time developing a classroom around this and meet all of the other demands placed on them? How do you still ensure that learning is taking place? Students can still work on a project and not really learn anything. Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "Distance learning would be the norm, opening huge opportunities for students to learn according to interest from the very best instructors."
This seems to be in line with the huge increase in Cobb County's online classes. What do students think of these classes? Are they learning as much as in a traditional classroom? What is their perception of them? Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "Gaming would be the norm and teachers would be game coaches."
Gaming sounds like a great idea that would engage students and help them learn. The key is designing the games. The games that students play for fun have millions of dollars of investment to make them so popular. How are we going to keep up with educational games? Who is going to design them? We all would have to agree on what to teach in order to pool the resources necessary to design the mass number of games to meet all subject across all grades. Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "The secret to survival and change in the 21st century will be considering ourselves co-learners with our students able to teach us…"
This is a strategy that students love but teachers are often afraid of. Students love to feel smart at something and feel valued. Teachers all to often are afraid of looking stupid. Instead teachers and students should be able to work together to accomplish the goal of learning. This strategy is also a way to engage students. Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "Just this week a report was released that showed our country has 1.23 million drop outs this year! And the rise does not come from the academically at risk, but the academically bored."
Labels:
Old School Issues Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "The Bradys –those children who are plenty smart – but find little value in school, that may not come from homes that value education, or that find more meaning in online activities – are the ones who are education’s greatest challenge."
Labels:
Old School Issues, future challenges Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "What we young idealists forgot was that society’s implicit charge to schools is to codify and protect current culture, norms and structures – not change them."
Is this true? What are schools designed to teach? Labels:
Old School Issues, future challenges Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "It’s because it is difficult to change a system that rewards superior people – people just like us! The one thing all of here today have in common is that we are good at school. Schools are led and run by those who have succeeded in traditional mode – the Carries."
If we as teachers succeeded in a traditional model of school, and we continue to teach the way that we were taught, then the same students who do not do as well with a traditional teaching mode will continue to fall between the cracks. Labels:
Old School Issues, future challenges Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... Engagement vs. Entertainment - students don't want us to waste their time with entertainment. i see that when they come into the media center because their teacher is showing a video and they would rather work on another project. Labels:
strategies Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "In workshops I often ask participants to list characteristics of today’s kids. One that is usually on the list is that they need to be entertained. This is a dangerous and wrong assumption. My grandsons need no more or less entertainment than the rest of us. But they do demand engagement."
Students today are use to interaction and being involved. Listening to lectures does not involve them and so they tune out. We need to be create in ways to increase student involvement. Labels:
strategies, Characteristics, Negative Characteristics Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Everything I know in 15 minutes
doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/... "The author is not the only person to question the values and intelligence of kids. Here is what one prominent critic had to say:
Oh, wait. My notes are mixed up. That was Socrates - 2300 years ago or so. My bad." In every generation there are always some people who think that the upcoming generation is no good. Labels:
critics, Negative Characteristics Writing, technology and teens
"Teenagers’ lives are filled with writing. All teens write for school, and 93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure. Most notably, the vast majority of teens have eagerly embraced written communication with their peers as they share messages on their social network pages, in emails and instant messages online, and through fast-paced thumb choreography on their cell phones."
What might be important is the type of writing that students are participating in rather than just the quantity that they write. Labels:
Current Trends They are concerned that the quality of writing by young Americans is being degraded by their electronic communication, with its carefree spelling, lax punctuation and grammar, and its acronym shortcuts.
This raises the question, is it beneficial for us as educators to use tools like IMing with students? Labels:
Current Trends "Yet despite the nearly ubiquitous use of these tools by teens, they see an important distinction between the “writing” they do for school and outside of school for personal reasons, and the “communication” they enjoy via instant messaging, phone text messaging, email and social networking sites."
Is frequent, informal writing beneficial in any way to more formal writing? Labels:
Current Trends "At the same time that teens disassociate e-communication with “writing,” they also strongly believe that good writing is a critical skill to achieving success"
Teens might be more ambitious or reflective than they let on. Labels:
Current Trends, Characteristics "85% of teens ages 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites."
A high percentage of teens are familiar with ecommunication. Labels:
Current Trends "Teens generally do not believe that technology negatively influences the quality of their writing, but they do acknowledge that the informal styles of writing that mark the use of these text-based technologies for many teens do occasionally filter into their school work.Overall, nearly two-thirds of teens (64%) say they incorporate some informal styles from their text-based communications into their writing at school."
Teens do not seem to make the connection between negative influences from technology and using informal writing styles in school. Labels:
Current Trends "In our focus groups, teens said
they are motivated to write when they can select topics that are relevant to their lives and interests, and report greater enjoyment of school writing when they have the opportunity to write creatively." Key words: relevant, interests, creatively Labels:
strategies "Having teachers or other adults who challenge them, present them with interesting curricula and give them detailed feedback also serves as a motivator for teens."
Key words: interesting, feedback Labels:
strategies "Teens also report writing for an audience motivates them to write and write well."
This quote goes back to the importance of making lessons applicable to real life. Labels:
strategies "The internet is also a primary source for research done at or for school. 94% of teens use the internet at least occasionally to do research for school, and nearly half (48%) report doing so once a week or more often."
Using the internet for research is very common today. Labels:
Current Trends "Overall, 82% of teens feel that additional in-class writing time would improve their writing abilities and 78% feel the same way about their teachers using computer-based writing tools."
Computer-based writing tools increases interaction. Labels:
strategies "47% of teen bloggers write outside of school for personal reasons several times a week or more compared to 33% of teens without blogs."
Are these teens blogging for pleasure or for school? Labels:
strategies "Teens appreciate the ability to revise and edit easily on a computer, but do not feel that use of computers makes their writing better or improves the quality of their ideas."
Teens see that word processing is just a presentation tool and that typing the assignment does not improve the content. Labels:
Current Trends "When it comes to using technology for school or non-school writing, teens believe thatwhen they use computers to write they are more inclined to edit and revise their texts (57% say that)."
Rather than just letting teens use Word the same, old way, they might improve their writing if they are shown tricks such as the editing features. This could be collaborative between partners and between the teacher and student. Labels:
strategies, Current Trends "Teens who enjoy their school writing more are more likely to engage in creative writing at school compared to teens who report very little enjoyment of school writing (81% vs. 69%)."
Creative writing engages students. Labels:
strategies Teens and technology
"One out of every two teens who use the internet lives in a home with a broadband connection."
This still means that less than half of teenagers have broadband. Labels:
Current Trends "Wired teens are more frequent users of instant messaging."
This makes sense because if you have internet accesses at home then you have much more of an opportunity to IM. Labels:
Current Trends "And they are now more likely to play games online, make purchases, get news, and seek health information." "76% get news online." "31% use the internet to get health information."
Teens are not only playing games, but also looking for information for personal use. This is where information literacy is so crucial. We want to make sure that they are looking for health information in the right locations. Labels:
Current Trends, Characteristics "But email may be at the beginning of a slow decline as online teens begin to express a preference for instant messaging."
Is this preference with friends or does it also include teachers and media specialists? Labels:
Current Trends "Teens who participated in focus groups for this study said that they view email as something you use to talk to “old people,” institutions, or to send complex instructions to large groups."
Do they prefer to talk to "old people" this way, or do they email with them because "old people" don't text or IM? "75% of online teens — or about two-thirds of all teenagers — use instant messaging, compared to 42% of online adults."
There is a huge gap between adults and teens when it comes to IMing. Labels:
Current Trends "IM is a multi-channel space of personal expression for teens. They typically converse in text, but they also share links, photos, music, and video over IM."
Students are use to multimedia as a part of there everyday life. No wonder school is boring when a teacher stands at the front and lectures. Labels:
Current Trends, Characteristics "Even with their great affection for technology, teens still report, on average, spending more time physically with their friends doing social things outside of school than they report interacting with friends through technology. An average youth between ages 12-17 reports spending 10.3 hours a week with friends doing social activities outside of school and about 7.8 hours talking with friends via technology like the telephone, email, IM or text messaging."
Though teens are online much more than adults, that does not mean that they are not getting face-to-face time with their friends. Labels:
Current Trends, Characteristics "When compared to adults, teens are more than twice as likely to play games online; 81% of online teens say they are gamers, compared to 32% of online adults who say this."
Because of things like gaming, teens are use to interactive, engaging, fast, online environments. Adults are not as accustomed to this. Labels:
Current Trends, Characteristics, Generational Differences "Older teenage girls have a much higher level of engagement with a wide array of these activities than do either boys of the same age or younger boys and girls (aged 12-14). They are more likely to use email, text messaging, search for information about prospective schools, seek health and religious information, and visit entertainment-related websites."
Girls typically communicate much more than boys do, so it is not a surprise that they surpass them with online communication as well. Labels:
Current Trends Parent and teenager internet use
"But teens are notably more likely than their parents to say that the internet and related technology has made their own lives easier."
Could this be because they are more comfortable with technology? Labels:
Current Trends, Generational Differences "This difference is most pronounced with iPods and other MP3 playing devices, the one technological device that teens are more likely to own than their parents."
Teens are familiar with file sharing and how to download a file to a MP3 or iPod. These are skills that teachers tend to not be as comfortable with. Labels:
trends, Generational Differences Emerging technologies for learning
"In general, students are learning, adopting, and using technology at a much more rapid pace than their teachers, and many teachers are highly fearful of the technologies that the students take for granted."
Labels:
Generational Differences "In exchange, students observe their teachers’ lack of fluency with modern tools, and view them as ‘illiterate’ in the very domain the kids know they will need for their future – technology."
Students will need to have familiarity with technology when they go into the business world. Labels:
Generational Differences "The very concept of an ‘education’ is changing for many kids, as they experience self-directed learning, mostly out of school, about things that interest them, and they see how different this kind of learning is from the ‘push it on you’ and ‘test you to death’ methods of formal schooling.
Are our methods actually preparing students for their adult life? How do you make it through the vast amount of material that is suppose to be taught and not end up lecturing? What type of self-directed learning is the average student actually participating in outside of school? Labels:
Old School Issues, New Attitudes "The key point is that new technologies for education are arriving and changing really fast – too fast for even teachers who want to learn to use all of them to effectively do so."
As educators we need to know what is out there, but we don't have to be experts on how to use it all. Labels:
Generational Differences "“Teachers make PowerPoints and think we’re so excited to see them,” says another in middle school (2006), “but it’s just like writing on the blackboard.” “And then they read them to us” says a third (2006). “Why should I have to go to hear it read?”
We need to find new uses for technology rather than trying to shift our old lessons into new mediums. Labels:
Old School Issues "Some of these enthusiasts have mastered on their own the technologies they use, but the smartest among them have partnered with their students, who are eager to teach them. “Just ask us,” says a 15-year-old, “We’re happy to help.” (2006)"
Teachers should form partnerships with students rather than be intimidated by students technology knowledge. Labels:
strategies "This may be hard for many teachers to accept, because it means letting go of whatever control comes from being ‘the only one in the room who knows’."
A new attitude of partnership between teachers and students. Labels:
New Attitudes "My answer – different from the advice of many – is that such teachers don’t need to waste even a minute of their limited and precious time learning to use and master any of the new technologies. Why? Because their students can do this – and they want to. What we should do is let them."
This would save teachers time since they wouldn't have to do as much training. Labels:
strategies "Teachers must do this because there are lessons about technology that even the most technologically proficient kids can’t learn well on their own. These include
evaluating and comparing various uses of the new technologies, as well as specific lessons one doesn’t necessarily learn from ‘just doing’." This is a great opportunity to teach comparing and contrasting with different technologies. Labels:
strategies "Then teachers and students need to work together to create evaluation criteria and rubrics, and to make and understand the distinctions that relate to quality."
Let students be a part of the evaluation process. Labels:
strategies "Teachers also need to help students apply technologies wisely to real problems, and to reflect and search for the deeper issues that the technologies raise"
Teachers may not be the technology experts but they are vital for providing structure, wisdom, problem solving models, and productive discussions, not to mention subject area experts. Labels:
strategies "But we should make them use it not just for searching, but also make our students become contributors, writing articles about, say, local activities, places, or traditions that the Wikipedia does not already contain."
A strategy to help students how to best use Wikipedia. If they are doing the writing, then they understand that everything posted may not always be the cream of the crop. Labels:
strategies "This is what ‘using’ a technology means to today’s kids – not just finding something, but putting something of their own in."
Students don't want to just read what someone else wrote, but they also want to contribute and interact. Labels:
strategies "Podcasts can be assigned to individuals, or to a whole class working in teams (which allows those who don’t know how to make them to learn from their peers), or they can be allowed as an alternative way to do written assignments."
Great way to get students involved with the material. Labels:
strategies "Teachers should listen to the podcasts with the students, and help the students decide on the criteria for evaluation, and evaluate how well their own work and other students’ submissions meet those criteria."
Teachers should focus on what they are already experts at. Labels:
strategies "Students can collect evidence and scientific data, do photojournalism, visually express ideas, identify things and people, and do hundreds of other useful learning tasks, depending only on the imagination of the students and the teachers."
Almost all of the students have phones, so why not get them to use the phones productively. Labels:
strategies Young minds, fast times
Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... "It is a measure of the malaise of our educational system that these old folk -- smart and experienced as they may be -- think they can, by themselves and without the input of the people they're trying to teach, design the future of education."
What a great idea to invite students to be apart of the technology integration effort. Labels:
strategies, Old School Issues, New Attitudes Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... Unlike in the corporate world, where businesses spend tens of millions researching what their consumers really want, when it comes to how we structure and organize our kids' education, we generally don't make the slightest attempt to listen to, or even care, what students think about how they are taught.
We need to be asking students how they prefer to be taught. Labels:
strategies Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... They are full of ideas but often skeptical that things are going to change much.
This quote is reflecting students thoughts about education. Labels:
Old School Issues Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... Perhaps it's because I communicate somehow to the kids that I truly respect their opinions.
Students want to feel respected Labels:
New Attitudes, strategies Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... A young man commented, "You think of technology as a tool. We think of it as a foundation -- it's at the basis of everything we do."
Students expect technology. It's not just a novelty. Labels:
Generational Differences Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... One teacher queried, "Do computers cut you off from the world?" Not at all, said an excited student: "We share with others and get help. Technology helps -- it strengthens interactions so we can always stay in touch and play with other people. I've never gone a day without talking to my friends online."
Teachers and students see computers so differently. Students see opportunities. Labels:
Generational Differences, Characteristics Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... A student in West Virginia offered this nugget: "If I were using simulation in school, that would be the sweetest thing ever!"
Students are accustomed to gaming and simulations. Why not integrate them into school? Expense? Labels:
strategies Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... "The disconnect between what students want and what they're receiving is significant," said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, which tracks youth culture. "Student frustration is rising."
We need to listen more to what students would like from school. Labels:
Characteristics Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... Today's kids hate being talked at. They hate when teaching is simply telling. They hate lectures and tune them out.
Students need to be involve more in the learning process. Labels:
strategies, Old School Issues Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... there are other ways, in any discipline, to get students to learn exactly the same material without lectures -- as well as without worksheets, something else the kids tell us they really hate.
How do teachers get away from the traditional teaching style? They have so man demands placed on them that they run out of time to get really creative. Creative equals time. Labels:
Old School Issues Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner | Edutopia
www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2... Students universally tell us they prefer dealing with questions rather than answers, sharing their opinions, participating in group projects, working with real-world issues and people, and having teachers who talk to them as equals rather than as inferiors.
Students like to feel involved and valued. Labels:
Characteristics 2008 World of Work
"Workplaces are multigenerational environments with employees from 16 to 60-plus. Each group has differing perceptions, understandings and prejudices."
Students need to learn to work with adults. Labels:
Generational Differences "The transfer of knowledge between retiring generations of veteran workers and newer entrants to the workforce is unlikely."
Generations often stick together rather than share ideas and perspectives. Labels:
Generational Differences "Perceptions of co-workers, particularly those in Gen Y, are based largely in stereotypes."
When you listen to some teachers talk about their students, you can definitely tell that they are basing their comments on stereotypes. Labels:
Generational Differences < |