Who Are Generation Z?
They are the first kids born into a world with smartphones, tablets, and computers, and the first students to be born AG – After Google. In fact, there is not a kid alive who can remember a world without Google. It is an integral part of their daily lives – except in some cases, not at the institutions of learning where they attend. (Enter Chromebooks!!!)
Like the generations before them, Gen-Z learners enjoy hands-on learning, and they really want to be able to connect, collaborate and share. Their familiarity with technology and social media makes them born social entrepreneurs. They are passionate–they want to change the world! So many of them are doing just that — but sadly, it’s happening outside of the classroom. We are teaching them right in the middle of an information revolution, which is simultaneously scary and exciting. It’s exciting because we have access to information never before seen in human history. But it’s also scary because we don’t know how this enormous shift will affect our classrooms and curriculum.
The Generation Z Information Revolution
This information revolution can be the best thing that has ever happened to us. Our classrooms don’t have to be incubators of memorization and multiple choice tests. We can create learning environments that allow kids to explore and fall in love with problem-solving. It’s possible that one day a student in your class might look at the problem of cancer, ask the right questions about it, be equipped with the literacies – digital, information and subject-specific – to find the cure. In this information revolution, we can become teacher-preneurs and use the resources we have to build the classrooms we only dreamed about as kids.
Keeping Generation Z Curious
But to build these new classrooms of curiosity, we need to understand our clients: our students.
- They are Generation Z – and they are the kids born after 1995 – which means every kid sitting in our classroom is from this generation (or the one coming up Gen Alpha). They are NOT millennials.
- They are the first generation to be born into a world with a plethora of devices and social media, both are integral to their lives.
- They are hyper-connected, but as the authors of The Gen Z Effect, Tom Koulopoulos and Dan Keldsen claim, “they are not as much tech savvy as they are tech-dependent.”
- Technology is invisible to them. It’s only technology when you are not born with it.
- They are hyper-connected and their phones are the hub of their social lives, but they don’t do phone calls they do texts and they really don’t do texts they do GIFs, Emojis and Snaps. Recently, a poll of high-schoolers revealed that their number one app of choice was Snapchat quickly followed by Instagram and they referred to Facebook “as that thing their grandparents use.”
—-> 🙃🎉🙌For fun, take a look at this video about our Gen Z students.
The video (bit.ly/infusdgenz) humorously claims this generation has an attention span of eight-seconds – they think in small bite-sized chunks of information, and they get most of their information from Google. But they also need to evaluate that information, learn about bias and become expert fact-checkers. So WE have to teach them the value of deep work and deep learning.
Generation Z Attention Spans
Gen Z learners are the first ones to tell you that their attention spans are short, that they feel constantly wired and that they need multiple senses stimulated to be able to engage and learn.
But these kids can utilize even short attention spans if we help them. They can grow to be creators and amazing problem-solvers. They are keenly aware we are leaving them with some big problems that need to be solved. So let’s give them the skills to better do that!
The fact is, Generation Z is growing up at the forefront of an amazing information revolution – – they don’t see technology as an add-on, but central to their lives. As their teachers, we should view it the same way. This generation has access to the information and familiarity with tech devices, so let them use it to become inquirers, solve some big problems, and continue to develop the curiosity and passion to change the world.
More on Generation Z in The Google Infused Classroom and The Microsoft Infused Classroom – heck them out!