The Digital Natives
Many a teacher enter their classrooms in a portal form the past. Classrooms today look anything but modern. The traditional walls, desk, red-dyed floors and the ever-existent chalkboards have greeted students since. However, students of today are not the same as their parents, grandparents and their great grandparents – they are Generation Y, or more known to us as millennials. Very much different even from the newer ranks of teachers from Gen X and even farther from the Baby Boomers who comprise the greater population of teachers. These learners are born into the digital world, from womb to birth, they have been greatly exposed to technology, thus the digital natives.
Millennials have never lived without technology, but many young teachers find themselves working in schools that are stuck in the past. Classrooms in the Philippines still have this grandfatherly style of set-up. As Gen Z teachers are entering the workforce, they are already shaking up the world of Education. With their unique and various skillsets, younger teachers are able to bring fresh perspectives to the classroom and connect with their students in new ways. Having been born into the growing tech savvy world, Gen Z teachers have an amazing amount of know-how, though cannot be considered a skill as it comes naturally, it still is very handy. We are slowly attacking the learning curve where our students have a very short attention span. Students who prefer interactive, experiential and collaborative learning, most that are very comfortable with technology. And at some point, millennials tend to be able to “multitask.” The modern learners have thrived in instant gratification and they feel really comfortable in informal and stimulated environment- far from the strict and straightforward manner that we at the earlier generation were used to.
The world has progressed, and human evolution has come to a very steadfast rate. Though our classrooms are historical, the modern teachers are also quickly adopting to the changes brought about by the technological development. No matter the generation, no matter the circumstance, teachers are always expected to rise above and deliver their best in every turn. Teachers are innovators from the past born into the future. We are the torch bearers for the generations to come. We rekindle the hearts of the young, touch their lives, and help in building their dreams, after all we are teachers and we have come from the mother of all profession.