Generation Z blazes its own learning trail
Students today see technology as crucial in the classroom while teachers are becoming guides, not lecturers
Generation Z ( those born from the early ’ 90s to 2010) approaches everything a little bit differently. Otherwise known as the Net Generation, this group of Canadians were the first raised in an established online world with tech tools and gadgets. In fact, they cannot imagine a world without them. This means they can absorb information at rapid speed, simultaneously text, swipe and curate playlists, all while Googling their way out of any situation. To them, technology is not a means to an activity, but rather a seamless part of everyday life.
To that end, Generation Z brings this same pragmatism to their education. As we all have witnessed, technology knows no bounds and its reach is seen within classrooms across Canada. Take, for example, the classic blackboard. In my earlier days as a student, blackboards were a mainstay in every classroom, but today, I wonder how many young students would know how to clean chalkboard erasers? Likely slim to none.
And that is understandable. In 30 years, we have seen the transition from blackboards to interactive white boards that integrate computer projections with hand- motioned controls, very much like the movements used on a tablet or Xbox Kinect. A teacher or student can easily draw or erase blocks of text or images, navigate through presentations and more, all through gestures. Then, the entire lesson can be downloaded and digitally transferred to students. With cuttingedge tools such as these at the top of mind in classrooms, it is no wonder the gadgets of the past are easily forgotten.
Before the interactive white board was the overhead projector, document camera and dry erase board. All of these tools had, at one time or another, pushed the blackboard into obsolescence.
Students who have lived through this transition have trouble remembering the gadgets of the past, so it is easy to understand why Generation Z’s perception of education is entrenched in the gadgets of today. In fact, reports from Mashable show three out of four students say they would not be able to study without technology.
Further, research by three Australian universities — the University of Melbourne, the University of Wollongong and Charles Sturt University — have shown the cohorts of Net Generation fundamentally think differently. Their hyper- text minds learn better informally, as opposed to in traditional classroom settings. Thankfully, we have seen institutions start to adapt to these changes, offering distance learning, video lectures and web- based classrooms in most educational experiences.
In addition to these changes revolutionizing the classroom, there are also dramatic changes happening in the learning experience itself. Technology is allowing students to actively make choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate or display information, putting them in the driver seat of their education.
Even the once notoriously banned cellphone is becoming socially acceptable in college and universities, as a slew of apps have made smartphones a powerful learning tool. Access to the digital world is at their fingertips and when they would like to learn more about a topic, they seek it on their own time and at their own pace.
Educators are starting to respond to these trends by putting the lesson plans in the hands of students in hopes of higher engagement and learning potential, and teachers are adapting to facilitate class discussions, providing guidance and resources while supporting student- generated activity, rather than lecturing. In other words, students have been positioned as the discoverer and teachers have become a guide to academic excellence.
These new roles of discoverers and guides have only begun to take their course. Fast- forward 20 years and the interactive white board will have gone from cutting edge to conventional to another retro- themed Generation Z gadget. As new technologies are continually introduced, fascinating ripple effects will be seen in education and the roles of discoverers and guides will change again.
These are only some of the positive ways we have seen technology impact education today.
We are at an exciting time when education and technology have converged.
Today we are on the brink of a period where technology, educators and institutions are working collectively to redefine academia.
At Future Shop, we will see plenty of this in action this September, when students across the country gear up for a new school year and we’re simply fortunate to be a part of this revolution.