Gen Z Workshop - KPU

Short URL: http://go.uis.edu/GenZWorkshop_KPU

First: A word about Power Pointless! We at the University of Illinois Springfield Center for Online Learning, Research and Service present often at academic conferences. We encourage attendees to freely share presentation materials online using web-native tools that encourage collaboration and updating. You may follow the session using your personal mobile device to dig deeper into the topics we discuss and share with others following the conference.

Engaging Generation Z Learners: Rethinking How We Engage the Digital Generation

This session will engage participants in discussions that will explore the learning characteristics and preferences for classroom engagement of Generation Z students as we consider learning activities using personal devices (phones, tablets, laptops.) A Community of Inquiry format will be utilized to engage participants with the presenter, participants with each other, and participants with web content. We will explore current stereotypes of Gen Z students and how to more effectively engage students born between 1996 - 2010. A website will be utilized as the presentation tool will provide links to research, videos, and additional readings on this topic.

Who Owns Star Wars Nostalgia?

• NPR - Origins of Generational Names and Why We Use Them

• NYTimes - How Every Generation got its Name

Who is Generation Z

• • Born between 1995 - 2012

  • Entered college between 2013-14 and today

  • Beloit College's Annual List of Incoming Freshmen (Class of 2020)Characteristics

• • 10 Things Students Born in 2010 Will Never Experience

• Gen Z: The Phigital Student

How Can We Eliminate Technology Bias and Generation Stereotyping?

According to Campus Technology, 23% of students believe their faculty are digitally literate, 14% of faculty believe their students are digitally literate

• Generation Z versus Millennials - What are the Differences and Why do they Matter to Colleges and Universities

• Gen Z - Better Prepared - Less Entitled

Generational Differences with Tech Initiatives

"Today, the population of learners who are age 25 or older is growing faster than the traditional college-age group, a surge projected to continue."

Undergraduate Gen Z students & information technology

(https://www.visioncritical.com/generation-z-infographics/)

TECHNOLOGY OWNERSHIP BY GENERATION

Educase ECAR Undergraduate Technology Research

(https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2017/9/studentst2017infog.pdf)

Badging & Credentialing - UPCEA Research Study

Millennials Prefer Badges

Among the study’s key findings

• Alternative credentials are offered by 94% of institutions.

• One in five institutions offers badges.

• Badges are most commonly offered in the business industry.

• 71% of institutions has consistent engagement with the business community for internships, practicums, and job placement.

• 64% of respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that their institution sees alternative credentialing as an important strategy for its future.

• Millennial Demand for Badging Challenges Industry

• Gen Z and Higher Ed

Unlike Millennials, who pursue personal fulfillment more widely than financial goals or job titles, Gen Z values college most as a means to secure a good job. (Malat, 2016)

(End at 2:02)

Teaching 21st Century Skills…

• Become a Learning Guide

• Embrace Technology

• Encourage Educational Freedom

• Teach Risk-Taking

• Understand Speed of Access Matters

What skills do students need to learn as we teach discipline specific content?

• Technical skills

• Conceptual skills

• Interpersonal skills

• Entrepreneurial and Innovation skills

Producing a Generation of Problem Solvers

...education needs to become a dynamic activity, providing a combination of four ingredients:

• • • • • • • Knowledge, starting with the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, moving onto knowledge of core content and then to higher order concepts and thinking skills, to challenge, question, adapt and apply knowledge in new ways.

            • Personal strengths and character development, including helping students find a sense of purpose and ambition, and building their resilience and persistence (knowing how to stick with it and overcome setbacks and obstacles).

            • Social experiences so they deepen their relationships with others, learn and think through dialogue and collaboration, and take action together to make and do things for and with other people.

            • Activities that give students a strong sense of agency, so that they learn how to turn knowledge and ideas into action to see that they can make a difference to the world so they can serve and contribute. (Ledbeater, 2016)

35% of Gen Z Students...

More than 1/3 of Gen Z students own or plan to own their own business.

(Fong, 2018)

• Gen Z Students need:

  • The ability to prepare for multiple career fields at one time and "slash" careers through development of transferable skills

    • I am a teacher/freelance writer

    • I am a business associate/waiter

    • I am an administrative assistant/photographer

    • I am a middle manager/adjunct faculty member

Work together at your tables:

Rank these items as you think students would rank them as being most helpful to student learning.

• Class discussion

• Homework

• Notes made available online

• Working in small groups

• Working through problems and concepts

• Test review sessions

• Textbooks

• Study guides

Most Helpful Tools for Gen-Z Student Learning: Barnes & Noble Report

(https://next.bncollege.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Gen-Z-Research-Report-Final.pdf)

Learning Preferences

Millennials: believe 2-way learning experiences are valuable. Not only do they want to learn from the instructor, but the instructor should be willing to learn from them, as well. This is a vital component to building strong relationships with this generation.

Generation Z: craves regular and technology-enhanced training opportunities. Looks for professional development that uses visually enhanced methods of training.

Attitudes toward Authority

Millennials: are not opposed to respecting authority, but questions why it should be unconditional and automatic. Not afraid to ask for what they (and others) value.

Generation Z: is high maintenance and wants high intensity in relationships with those in authority, as well as their peers.

Special Interests

Millennials: are amazingly optimistic. "We can do this!" Sometimes this is detrimental to achieving successful outcomes.

Generation Z: thrives on opportunity. Excel when they receive guidance in how to achieve their goals.

Cultivating Culture for Successful Learning Environments with Multiple Generations

• Promote understanding, acceptance, and respect

  • Each student is valued for individual contribution

  • Each student is respected for their strengths

• Communication is open.

• Learning environment promotes project-based assignments that utilize the strengths of each member.

  • Specific individualized guidance is provided.

  • Function-based work projects are reduced or eliminated.

• Technology is used to create interest and enhance content.

Additional Readings:

Millennials

• How Millennials are Changing Project Management in the Workplace

• The Millennial Mindset and Management

• How Millennials Have Shaped Higher Education

• The Anatomy of the Modern Online Course to Meet the Needs for Future Learners

• 2012 Essential but Problematic: Faculty Perceptions of Media Literacy Education at the University Level

• 2016 Millennial Wage Disparity

• Longer Videos are Okay with Millennial Learners

• Millennials and the Grocery Shopping Experience

Generation Z (Phigital Generation)

• Key differences between Millennials and Gen Z Phigital Generation

• Another perceptive on differences between Generation Z and Millennials

• Literature Review - Impact of Digital Natives (Millenials) in the Digital Era

• Sync learning up for Gen Z

• Who will be your next learner?

• Unique characteristics of Gen Z

• 2016 State of Digital Media in Higher Education

• Barnes & Noble College Report: Getting to Know Gen Z

• UPCEA An Insider's Guide to Gen Z and Higher Education

Contact information:

Dr. Vickie Cook

vcook02s@uis.edu

@DrVickieCook

Director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service

University of Illinois Springfield

~

https://sites.google.com/a/uis.edu/colrs_cook/

http://www.uis.edu/colrs

217-206-7317

~