Have you noticed how quickly kids are growing up these days? I remember when childhood was about ice-cream vans and mud pies, riding bikes freely around the street and building ‘impenetrable’ forts. Now it seems that if the kids aren't participating in any number of extra-curricular activities, on protective rubberized surfaces, while texting their friends (about the latest gaming technology), then we’re somehow not doing our job right by them. Welcome Generation Z. They’re not yet adults, but they’re shaping up to be the most technically-sharpened, connected, discriminating and impatient of all the generations. They are the students in our schools today, and will continue to be so into the 2020’s. Perhaps this implies that the future of education depends largely on understanding and engaging with these 21st century learners?
With information flowing at an all time high, Gen Z are able to chat with their friends, download the latest music, share photos, organize their social calendar, do research for a school project, catch up on the world news, and provide editorials on their lives – all at the click of a button. We might refer to smartphones, online games, blogs and social networking as ‘new technologies’, but for our kids, they are merely how you interact in the world.
Growing up around this type of technology, Gen Z have learned to be multi-taskers. For example, when eating breakfast, they might be listening to downloaded music, while playing on their ipod touch, when they receive a text from their friend about a program that was on television. They’re hyper stimulated with declining attention spans. So, as parents and educators, we need to learn ways to engage them smartly to compete for their fleeting attention.
Gone are the days when kids used libraries, encyclopedias and reference books. The web is where Gen Z now go to learn. With the speed and ease with which students can ‘google it’, there will be many who won’t remember a time when ‘Google’ wasn’t a verb. But how accurate is all the information on the web? And what are we doing to help our kids interpret this information with a critical eye? It’s no secret that our kids are growing up faster. But with free access to so much information, it’s common for them to learn about adult issues without the opportunity of exploring it with their parents.
So what does this mean for education? Learning for these students is no longer about just remembering print based information. They need to be able to decode, interpret and critically analyze diverse sources of information so they can make informed choices – particularly at an age where media and marketing have tremendous resources targeted at them. Accordingly, inquiry units, open-ended questions and explicit teaching of thinking skills are all being used in schools to help develop deep understandings and opinions about the world. This includes education on how to navigate the online world safely and respectfully. The content aims to focus on authentic issues that involve their lives and global interests – and often connects them with communities beyond the classroom. The delivery of learning integrates new technologies, and teaching strategies are becoming increasingly creative as a means of dealing with their declining attention spans.
Why this is important?
Well, It is integrated in this generation's DNA. They live, breathe and speak it, yet classrooms are only beginning to understand how to best incorporate technology into education in order to fully embrace its potential. The use of technology in the classroom enables collaboration among students as well as between students and teachers. It allows teachers do less content instruction from the front of the room in favor of hands on projects, and it opens up the door for more creativity on the part of students. As technology plays an important role in the day-to-day activities of businesses, using these tools in the classroom prepares these students to be able to use technology in the workforce in new and creative ways, increasing the competitiveness of our state’s economy.
Technology is playing a role in classrooms across the country. Moreover, technology can allow education to cross all boundaries.While our kids will still go through all the personal and relationship dramas that go hand-in-hand with growing up in any generation, we need to acknowledge that technological and social changes have changed the way Gen Z experience the world. By better understanding with the kids, the technology they use, and the issues in their lives, we can determine how to most effectively engage this high-tech, connected, and sharpened generation.
