Learn about the Millennial Generation and tips on connecting to students inside and outside the classroom with a variety of technology.

1. Teaching the Millennial Generation: Techno Savvy Josh Murdock (Millennial) Valencia Community College

2. Our Millennial Future http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogVTkB_4aOs 2

3. The Millennial Generation The Millennial Generation has emerged as a force that will shape the social and economic dynamics of the next decade (Howe & Strauss, 2000). The definition of when millennials were born varies, with estimates ranging from 1977 (Tapscott, 1998) to 1982 (Howe & Strauss, 2000). Researchers agree that the uniqueness of millennials results from technological forces that have affected this generation. Unique millennial competency is the ability to effectively use broadly networked digital communication technologies to quickly and seamlessly accomplish a variety of tasks. This competency has resulted from their experiences with Internet communities (Gorman, Nelson, & Glassman, 2004). 3

4. Millennial Students Characteristics What do you believe are the characteristics of a millennial? Relatively Sheltered Grew up among “kid safety rules”: school lockdowns, national youth safety movements More conventional than Gen-Xers High level confidence / self importance Team Oriented Close with Parents Technology Savvy 4

5. How they “Tick” Exposed to vast amounts of information at a very young age Different patterns of communications and social intimacy Ambitious, but with unrealistic expectations Well aware of rules, but enjoy the challenge of circumventing the rules 5

7. Connect to information

8. Communicate in real-time

9. Have social networking

10. Have been raised in the presence of video and computer games

11. Students in their 20s may have had more experience with games than with reading (Oblinger,2004).These experiences helped to form the way in which millennials seek, process, and report information.

12. 7 Individuals raised with computers deal with information differently compared to previous cohorts: “They develop hypertext minds, they leap around.” (Prensky, 2001)

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15. 20 percent of the students began using computers between the ages of 5 and 8

17. Characteristics of the Millennials… Millennials learn better through discovery and experiential learning rather than by being told have the ability to shift their attention rapidly from one task to another and may choose not to pay attention to things that don’t interest them — attentional deployment believe multitasking is a way of life and are comfortable when engaged in multiple activities simultaneously believe staying connected is essential and they want a fast response time (Howe & Strauss, 2000) 11

18. Educational Issues Diversity of needs, backgrounds, and experiences High Drop-out and failure rates (average 3 out of 10) Poor class participation Typically under prepared Difficulties relating to authority figures using traditional communication techniques 12

19. They are worth the trouble Violent Crime is down 60-70% Teen pregnancy is down Engaged in community service Tolerant – welcome everyone as part of the community 13

20. Techno Savvy Technology is the key Students are “digital natives” Use of technology is inherent, no matter what their interests For other generations, use of technology is foreign (in general) To deny the applications of technology in reaching Millennials may be a mistake 14

21. ENGAGING THE MILLENNIALS Millennials learn at a fast pace that does not involve a “telling style”/ “text-oriented” style of teaching like visual examples, less text, and less telling want interactivity Our challenge is to introduce new learning and teaching approaches to engage the millennial students. 15

22. A Vision of K-12 Students Today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8 16

23. Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.

24. ENGAGING THE MILLENNIALS Now being introduced into the Blackboard/WebCT environment are programs such as Wimba and Elluminate Permit the integration of different technologies such as synchronized chat, use of Whiteboard, online text messaging, and display of PowerPoints with voice accompaniment Other innovative practices that are being implemented include user-created content social networking virtual worlds and avatar creation use of mobile phones for course content delivery and multiplayer educational gaming. 18

25. YouTube 19 http://www.youtube.com/ Hosted by Google and EASY to use Allows uploading of videos of limited length by registered users (Free) Vast resources of videos from legitimate news & archive resources Searchable by topic, subject matter, and content

26. Facebook: Oh No……. 20 www.facebook.com Social networking site Games – educational games available Another way to stay in touch and connect with students Another way to remind students about upcoming events and activities Variety of Privacy Settings http://www.facebook.com/joshmurdock

27. Facebook: Educational Uses Allows for easy communications among classmates, the way they like to communicate Allows classmates to get to know one another on a social level outside of class Can be used to broadcast messages to students about upcoming activities/assignments in a place where they are always looking 21

28. MySpace: Are you for real? 22 www.myspace.com Social Networking Tools Myspace.com Blocked by public libraries (it’s the law) Many colleges & schools block this website with a firewall – Why? Student spend a lot of time there Sexual predators & other negative characters

29. Wikipedia 23 www.wikipedia.org Free encyclopedia that anyone can edit Over 10 million articles in 250 languages Over 2.5 million articles in English Written by “consensus” and constantly being edited

30. Blogging Software 24 Allows creation of “closed” or “open” forum settings Template driven & minimal tech knowledge needed Allows monitoring of commentary before “posting” Hosts web links and podcast links www.blogger.com

31. Educational Uses of Blogs 25 Forum for students, faculty to display and share ideas and invite commentary by designated contributors or the public Project sharing/showcasing space to seek and allow feedback by participants Platform to disseminate content material Personal / professional portfolios

32. twitter 26 Collaboration Reach a larger audience Share ideas Inspire Stay updated Communicate Network http://twitter.com/professorjosh http://twitter.com

33. Second Life – Virtual Education 27 Multi-user Virtual Environment Avatar based – you create a character for yourself Many educational locations Warning - many seedy locations Model Examples: Art, Theater, Museums Delivery of web-based courses synchronous http://www.valenciacc.edu/ltad/secondlife/ http://secondlife.com http://teen.secondlife.com

34. ENGAGING THE MILLENNIALS The textbook industry recognizes the millennial students’ ability to be interactive to work in group activities to multi-task and access information in an expedient manner from faculty as well as other group members— and the publishers are providing technological tools for teachers to incorporate into their pedagogy to engage the millennial learner. 28

35. WebQuest WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. Is a way to make good use of the internet while engaging their students in the kinds of thinking that the 21st century requires. Sample 29

36. TOOLS FOR ENGAGEMENT Textbook publishers are offering textbook content delivered via audio for downloading to students’ iPods as well as providing e-texts for students to read on their computers, iPhones, or iPads In teaching the faculty member becomes a guide who poses questions-- guides the students’ learning process. Learning is shifting away from an entire class of faculty-centered lectures. Educators are encouraged to include group work activities experiential learning and interactive exercises or role playing exercises for students. 30

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39. Field-based research projects have students engaged in learning real-time—and, working within a team fosters sharing of diverse ideas and synthesizing information. (“Training the Different Generations” 2004; Frand, 2000). 32

40. CONTACT INFORMATION Twitter: @professorjosh Facebook: joshmurdock Email: jmurdock3@valenciacc.edu

41. WORKS CITED Frand, J.L. (Sept./Oct., 2000). The information age mindset: Changes in students and implications for higher education. Educause Review. http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm00/articles005/erm0051.pdf Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials Rising. New York: Vintage Books. Jones, S. (Sept. 15, 2002). The internet goes to college: How students are living in the culture with today’s technology. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, D.C. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=71 Prensky, M. (Dec. 2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9 (6) 15-24, http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/ Training the different generations” (2004) Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/7X/07879697/078796977X.pdf 34