Welcome back! This session will help you discover the millennial generation. Their first members graduated from four-year institutions just six years ago. with them have come crazy admission incentives such as laptops and iPods and many institutions are beginning to cater to millennials in unique ways such as replacing old blackboards with whiteboards and smart classrooms.
At the extreme some traditional universities are already being offering concierge services, laundry service and date-night arrangements. This is a unique generation in many of the ways over generations that were different. Technology has made the difference in their learning preferences. They are products of the No Child Left Behind Standards. Learning outcomes and software programs asking for peripheral thinking instead of deep critical thinking. They are digital natives while other generations are immigrants.
As pointed out in the last session on generations, this is the largest generation and it is growing because of immigrants migrating and that are of the millennial generation age causing rapid growth. As the generation with the most child safety laws implemented, they have been helicoptered and hovered over by parents and grandparents. They have had their birth planned and from birth have had every moment of everyday planned for them. This phenomenon is seen at the college level with parents coming to preview days and admissions counselors taking active roles in recruiting the parents along with the student. Parents have been known to call their child each morning to wake them up, edit their work before they turn it in, and have them sign off on their FERPAs in order to know grades and be able to talk with instructors.
The Silents were what we call a Lost Generation. The boomers were a hero generation. The Xers are a lost generation. And the Millennials are going to be the next hero generation in the lost-hero-cycle. A Hero Generation is followed by a Lost Generation. The members of this generation want to be heroes as shown by their can-do attitudes and their willingness to organize for disaster relief such as the Katrina crisis. They have had their first pictures taken in the womb by sonogram and they have had cell phones, CDs and computers throughout their lives. From the time they entered the school system, the world has literally been a click away. They have been able to access any place at any time from anywhere.
Lastly, this generation is the most accepting generation of inter-racial marriages, different sexual orientations, and peoples of any origin as they have grown up with this on television.
Let us look at some of the characteristics. They were born into technology. They started kindergarten learning to work on computers, cut-and-paste was the rigor. It comes naturally to them. Three positive traits of millennials: life has been experienced with a positive tone of seeing the glass as half full. Sometimes that optimism is not based on their own experience or in individual talents. Sometimes that optimism is not based on their own experience or individual talents, but by inflated praise.
They are constantly reminded that they are going to be successful and have a great life. Determination is one trait that millennials are not often given credit for but they actually demonstrate quite often. They are determined to graduate, to have successful careers and to make a difference in society. Success has been a part of their lives although not always individually earned.
Millennials are extremely service-oriented as that is a high school graduation requirement in most high schools, but it has become second nature for the Millennial. We are seeing voluntarism at unparalleled levels from this generation. Bill Gates and Steven Jobs have been the models of entrepreneurship. Many Millennials have already started companies such as Facebook and Google, and they will continue as we see children as young as 13 and 14 putting together their own businesses that are quite successful.
Millennials have come through a school system that has had a strong base of collaborative strategies. Whole schools work for special state and government awards. They have also had a childhood of being part of soccer, T-ball, little league, swim, dance teams and the such. Every child has received an award of some kind, if nothing for just participating. Helping each other to win or find success has been a major part of their learning. Gaming has immediate gratification and with having received awards for participation, Millennials can become impatient waiting for results from assignments and tests.
They are comfortable with changes made in the delivery of information. An example would be, a 15-minute lecture followed by a group activity and then another five-minute lecture with PowerPoint then a paired assignment followed by a collaborative out of class assignment. They respect the instructor and look to them for guidance through the learning process. In turn, they expect respect for what they already know and bring to the classroom. They believe in education as most started in pre-schools.
One major problem though with Millennials is Grade Inflation. They are used to receiving an A and expect that in the college setting as well. An abrupt the awakening comes when they find out they have to actually earn the grade, and not everyone makes the same grade. Again, parents may contact the college and/or instructor regarding the grades that the student receives.
Millennials want to find out for themselves. They want to do it and experience it for themselves as opposed to being told about it. They are a generation of video game players and they have learned how to win at a game and persist until they have won. They want to experience real life problems instead of unrealistic scenarios. Millennials have been listened to by their parents and are not shy in expressing their views and may have traveled and had specific life experiences much earlier and more extensive than other generations. These life experiences are a valuable part of enhancing a classroom.
Again, they prefer to learn by discovery. They will sit up until all hours on a computer researching something and chatting with others that are friends working on the same project or others from around the world who have blogged about that particular topic. This persistence has enabled the millennials to retain a great amount of information that is actually useful. Many of these young adults have been able to take ideas and create new software, companies, and even charitable organizations. Their persistence with trial-and-error causes them to be more successful in the classroom setting.
Because they are active and creative in groups, they want assignments that are to the point and useful to them. Busy work does not resonate well. Giving them the options to design an assignment or assessment with the instructor providing the parameters gives them more buy-in to the learning experience. This allows them to tailor something that is applicable to their future careers or ideas they may be contemplating. They expect a classroom that is interactive with everyone in the classroom, and has information from the past, but also relates to the now. They want the connection. Honesty and truth is expected from the instructor. Authentic behavior is expected.
Again, they have had immediate information on performance. Therefore, they expect the same from the college setting.
Millennial students also want to know when to except the results from an assignment or assessment. Millennials know that their instructors may not be as tech-savvy as they are, but they expect use of technology and software by the instructor. This includes using not only PowerPoint—and please not with every lesson—but the incorporation of YouTube, short video clips, music, Internet resources and research found on the Internet setting.
Although, they are better educated, more techno-savvy and quicker to adapt than those who have come before them, they refuse to blindly conform to traditional standards and time honored institutions. Instead, they boldly ask why? We both suggest that you download and read the Horizon report, published online by EDUCAUSE. It comes out every January and gives an update and prediction of what institutions across our nation are using in the higher-learning levels. It talks about our society and what is happening at the educational levels to stay current in the business of education. It also talks about what instructor should be doing in the classroom settings, whether it be traditional face-to-face, hybrid or online to provide the most effective educational experience for this generation.