The Cool New Genz

Gee… I’m of Gen Y too… being born in different era does affect the way of living of a person. However, not all differences are due to chronological dates but its seems like those New Gens have a privilege of better exposure to the world of IT and this leads to some of the positive characteristics in them where  New Gens are affluent, better educated, comfortable with multitasking (with digital media) etc. On the other hand, researchers also found out that due to the conducive up-bringing environment, the New Gens are somehow selfish as they are being taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves thus making them not competitive in the workplace and in the society. No wonder I notice the students now-a-days are so dependent on their parents or their teachers because they are over-protected and pampered.

“Having grown up with widespread access to technology, the New Gen is able to intuitively use a variety of IT devices and navigate the Internet. Although they are comfortable using technology without an instruction manual, their understanding of the technology or source quality may be shallow.”

The New Gens are IT savvy in  a way which interest them where they have no problem in surfing the Internet for games, entertainment or social interaction but they are limited when they are required to use the Internet in an educational way like searching study-related information, sharing knowledge etc. They will struggle to complete a task given as they are not familiar with using the Internet for educational purposes. As teachers, we need to keep up with the advancement in technology in order to make use of the technology in our T&L process. With proper planning and pedagogy, I believe, our lesson will be more engaging. =)

“In our twitch-speed world, there is less and less time and opportunity for reflection, which enable us to generalize as we create “mental models” from our experience.”

How true are these statements… Even I find myself is lacking on this matter of constantly reflecting on things and situations. The world is moving faster and faster. In order to keep up with it’s pace, we tend to be ‘touch and go’ on everything as long we get the job done without truly understanding the whole process. Most people cared more on the outcome than the process. In fact, we learn as we pass through the process. As educators, we “need to figure out and invent ways to include reflection and critical thinking in the learning. we must do more in this area.”