Generation X: Born 1965 – 1982 Baby Boomers: Born 1946 - 1964 Matures, Silents: Born 1900 – 1946

Many people are born on the cusps of twogenerations, and do not “fit” their

“generational type”

also called “Generation M or Y,” “Echo Boomers,” or the NET Generation

roughly 30% of the American populationchildren of Baby Boomers or early wave

members of Generation Xthe most diverse generation in our

history – 34% are nonwhite or Latino

Oklahoma City bombing Busy, over-planned lives (more than 75% of time spent in structured experiences) Stress Malfunction at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant caused a near meltdown Iranian students took 66 people hostage at the US Embassy in Tehran US boycotts the Olympics in Moscow President Regan shot The Equal Rights Amendment passed (though not ratified) The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff, killing all seven astronautsThe Exxon Valdez spills more than ten million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound The Berlin Wall demolished Persian Gulf War Four white police officers accused of beating Rodney King were acquittedShootings at Columbine High School in Colorado left 13 students and one teacher deadDow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time It took more than a month to declare a winner of the presidential election because of ballot ("hanging chad") disputes Four US planes were hijacked in attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing more that 3000 people leading the US into an ongoing fight against terrorism War is waged against Afghanistan and Iraq

   GreatestGeneration

 Baby Boomers

 Generation X

 Millennials

Outlook Practical Optimistic Skeptical Hopeful

Work ethic Dedicated Driven Balanced Determined

View of authority Respectful Love/hate Unimpressed Equals

Leadership by Hierarchy Consensus Competence Pulling together

Change Revolution Managed Expected Fluid

Own work Do it all Do with help Contract Cut and paste

Chambers, D.W. (2005). Generations. Journal of the American College of Dentists, 72(3), 27-36.

Zemke, R. Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work: Managing the clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your workplace. New York: Amacon.

Focus on children and familyScheduled, structured livesMulticulturalismTerrorismHeroismPatriotismGlobalism

are fascinated by new technologies identify with their parents’ values 1 in 5 have at least one immigrant

parent gravitate toward group activities grew up in a time of economic prosperity the most protected generation in terms

of government regulations on consumer safety

often indulged as a result of changing child-rearing practices

multi-tasking is a way of life

Diana Oblinger (Understanding the New Students, EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2003)

More Choices; More Selectivity: Millennials expect a much greater array of product and service selectivity. They have grown up with a huge array of choices and they believe that such abundance is their birthright.

Experiential and Exploratory Learners: Millennials strongly prefer

learning by doing. They almost never read the directions; love to learn by doing, by interacting. Multiplayer gaming, computer simulations, and social networks are some of their favorite environments and provide little penalty for trial and error learning.

Flexibility / Convenience: Millennials prefer to keep their time and commitments flexible longer in order to take advantage of better options; they also expect other people and institutions to give them more flexibility.

Personalization and Customization: Once Millennials do make their choices in products and services, they expect them to have as much personalization and customization features as possible to meet their changing needs, interests and tastes.

Impatience: Millennials, by their own admission, have no tolerance for delays. They expect their services instantly when they are ready. They require almost constant feedback to know how they are progressing.

Practical, Results Oriented: Millennials are interested in processes and services that work and speed their interactions.

Multitaskers: Millennials excel at juggling several tasks at once since this

an efficient, practical use of their time and, they are very impatient.

Digital Natives: Millennials clearly adapt faster to computer and internet services because they have always had them. While they still clearly want and expect expert teachers in a face-to-face environment, they expect the speed, convenience, flexibility and power provided by digitally provided services and resources.

Gamers: Millennials have spent thousands of hours playing electronic,

computer and video games. They love the constant interactivity, full motion multimedia, colorful graphics, the ability to learn and progress to higher levels, and the ability to collaborate with friends in their learning and competitions.

Nomadic Communication Style: Millennials have more friends and communicate with them more frequently using IM (instant messaging), text messaging, cell phones as well as more traditional communication channels. They are prolific communicators.

Collaboration & Intelligence: After many years of collaborating at schools, day care, soccer teams, orchestras, peer-to peer networks, games, and other programmed activities, Millennials know how and when to work with other people more effectively. Even those who do not prefer collaboration typically do so, if they think it gives them a practical advantage.

Balanced Lives: They don’t want to work 80 hours a week and sacrifice their health and their leisure time, even for considerably higher salaries. Yet they expect to earn incomes exceeding their parents.

Millennial Behaviors & Demographics, Richard SweeneyUniversity Librarian, New Jersey Institute of Technology

In the survey, "The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010," involving more than 200,000 incoming full-time students at four-year colleges, the percentage of students rating themselves as "below average" in emotional health rose. Meanwhile, the percentage of students who said their emotional health was above average fell to 52 percent. It was 64 percent in 1985.

What Should We Do To Facilitate Experiences to

Support Their Success?

How do millennial students prefer to learn?

What strategies promote student learning?

How can we engage and motivate students?

Maximize opportunities for social contact Actively engage them with material we are trying to teach Find ways to help students create meaning between their life

experience and the material Foster a sense of a learning community Build rapport with students Promote student to student connections Facilitate student participation Create a safe, welcoming, inclusive classroom atmosphere Provide high, clear Expectations Offer individual feedback Engage with/through technology where appropriate Utilize group work: collaborative learning techniques Incorporate reflection and metacognition

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.

When the Class of 2017 arrives on campus this fall, these digital natives will already be well-connected to each other. They are more likely to have borrowed money for college than their Boomer parents were, and while their parents foresee four years of school, the students are pretty sure it will be longer than that.  Members of this year’s first year class, most of them born in 1995, will search for the academic majors reported to lead to good-paying jobs, and most of them will take a few courses taught at a distant university by a professor they will never meet. The use of smart phones in class may indicate they are reading the assignment they should have read last night, or they may be recording every minute of their college experience…or they may be texting the person next to them.

There is no agreement on the exact dates of the generation with some sources starting it at the mid or late 1990s or from the mid to the present day.

iGeneration, Gen Tech,Gen Wii, Net Gen, Digital Natives, Gen Next, Post Gen; TwoKays or 2K's (born after 2000), the Conflict Generation (the generation that grew up during the time of the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan), Generation i (or iGeners and iGens), @generation, the Swipe Generation, the Tweennials, and Screeners.

"Plurals" reflects that they are the most diverse of any generation in the U.S.; Magid estimates that 55% are Caucasian, 24% are Hispanic, 14% are African-American, 4% are Asian, and 4% are mixed race or other.

Be Prepared For…high expectations possible involvement of parents

Don’t…

expect them to pay their dues throw a wet blanket on their enthusiasm

Do…encourage them mentor them learn from them

Encore

Encore

Encore

“Why Haven’t You Friended me on MySpace or Poked Me Back On FACEBOOK, And How Come You’re Not Following Me On TWITTER? “

Because I really don’t like you.

“What difference does that make?”