Dr Manasvi M. Kamat
Generation Z (or Gen Z) also referred to as Delta Generation or Deltas by the New York Times is the demographic cohort after the Millennial (Gen Y) born in the late-1990s to mid-2000s. In 2012, USA Today sponsored an online contest for readers to choose the name of the next generation after the Millennials, and the name Gen Z was suggested.
The Bloomberg Times describes Gen Z as ‘the group of kids, teens and young adults roughly between the ages of 7 and 22 years and in the year 2019 they make up roughly 20-30 percent population in most countries. This means that most students currently studying in high schools, higher secondary schools and colleges comprise of Gen Z. A 2014 study found that Gen Z students self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, and determined. In addition some authors consider that some of their competencies, such as reading, are being transformed due to their familiarity with digital devices, platforms and texts and are more stressed and depressed. The Gen Z is sceptical, demands proof, has opinions of others, and desires a chance to be a part of the learning process. The Gen Z desires rewards and feedback that change frequently and an opportunity to show off what they have created in a public forum, both in person and online.
The Gen Z believes that obtaining a college degree is necessary in achieving career goals. They are the first cohort to have used the internet and smartphones at a young age making them less ‘face to face’ and liking to spend more time with phone screen and social media. Speed, reliability, emojis, videos and pictures are important factors in members of Gen Z choice of social networking platform. A recent Pearson Study found that a majority of Gen Z kids prefer learning from YouTube and videos rather than printed books.
The key to educators for connecting with this type of learner lies not only in delivery of content, but through the connection to real world experiences. As a teacher, it’s important to teach them how to discern facts versus opinions and how to critically evaluate sources through modern information literacy skills. Gen Z look for solutions based on the big picture, which can form them into generalists, knowing a little about everything rather than being a specialists in a subject area. Thus the educator is expected to teach them ‘something’ of ‘everything’ rather than ‘everything’ of ‘something’.
The educators of Gen Z must realize that they are expected to teach them proper searching techniques, evaluation of sources, as to how to use the databases and the ways to synthesise the vast amount of content easily available everywhere. Gen Z desires less of formal education and more of the skills. They want educators to be brief and capture their attention with visuals.
Since Gen Z is serious-minded, success-focused and steeped in technology from very early ages, they’re taking over higher education. WiFi connectivity, redesigned curriculum with experiential learning and Capstone-types simulation courses engage them well. The challenge for faculty is to understand what’s different about them, and adjust their teaching appropriately by embracing personal devices.Gen Z likes to delegate, collaborate, prefer group assignments, online video chats, and working from their own desks at home. For them, learning doesn’t happen in libraries and coffeehouses but through online resources and chat rooms. Digital technology is already the infrastructure of their learning, and it needs to become the infrastructure of the classroom as well. The Ohio State University in the recent years responding to the traits of Gen Z very aptly handed out iPads to incoming students, complete with the school’s own app and its digital learning platform, Top Hat.
The strategy educators of this generation could best adopt is to personalize leaning. This doesn’t mean designing a tailored approach for every student but targeting the group by assessing their progress and adjusting it accordingly. The idea is that the intended course material is digitally passed on the students and the educator can review challenging concepts, or dig deeper into topics that clearly elicit enthusiasm. Conducting the courses online, through video chat applications such as Google Hangouts or Zoom allowing multiple people to join a discussion, enabling screen-sharing for participants to demonstrate concepts or display work and allowing for feedback after the regular office hours help. Accepting assignments in form of video presentations or digital content is desired and also creates opportunities for their peer-to-peer learning.
Gen Z expects everything instantly as they never had to ‘wait’ to upload and download unlike earlier generations. According to them everything should happen online, immediately and it’s normal for them not to wait.They assume educational courses and outcomes are just tailored for them and expect a personalized feed of information, suggestions and requests. The Gen Z prefer social media to emails they are happy to read online but prefer to watch videos, and they’ll leave video messages rather than send an email or text. The bottom line is that traditional educational practices require thoughtful change in order to meet the needs of this generation.
Gen Z is resourceful learners whose attention span is hindered by a constant bombardment of information. They desire teachers who will build on their creativity, self discovery skills, speed to process information, and the ability to handle multidimensional learning experiences of their generation. As such, rescaling and up skilling will be the two keywords that will help the teachers to shift as per the expectations of the Gen Z.
