You are What You TECH: Generational Learning and Technology

1. Marlington Local Schools Carol Schwartz, Ph.D. Lourdes University June 4, 2013 You are What You TECH:Generational Learning and Technology

2. Key Concepts and Questions • Generational patterns repeat in cycles • What influences each generation’s development? • Who are the students currently in our classrooms ? • What role does technology play in generational development? Schwartz

3. The Influence of Our “Generation” • Much of the way we look at the world and how we relate to it is a function of when we were born and the formative experiences that influenced our development William Strauss and Neil Howe identified four “turnings” (event patterns) and four “generations” that continue to repeat in the same cyclic patterns Schwartz

4. Strauss & Howe Define Generation Members of a generation share • An age location in history • People experience key historical events & social trends at the same development stage • Common beliefs and behaviors • A sense of common perceived membershipin that generation • Generational definition based on the work of Comte, Littré, Gasset, Mannheim, Mentre, and Mill Schwartz

5. Four Archetyes Schwartz

6. Four “Turnings” or Event Patterns Schwartz

7. Generations Repeat Over Time • Arthurian (1433–1460) (H) • Humanist (1461–1482) (A) • Reformation (1483–1511) (P) • Reprisal (1512–1540) (N) • Elizabethan (1541–1565) (H) • Parliamentary (1566–1587) (A) • Puritan (1588–1617) (P) • Cavalier (1618–1647) (N) • Glorious (1648–1673) (H) • Enlightenment (1674–1700) (A) • Awakening (1701–1723) (P) • Liberty (1724–1741) (N) • Republican (1742–1766) (H) • Compromise (1767–1791) (A) • Transcendental (1792–1821) (P) • Gilded (1822–1842) (N) • Progressive (1843–1859) (A) • Missionary (1860–1882) (P) • Lost Generation (1883–1900) (N) • G.I. Generation (1901–1924) (H) • Silent Generation (1925–1942) (A) • Boomers (1943–1960) (P) • Gen X (1961–1981) (N) • Millennial (1982–2004) (H) • Homeland/Gen Z (2005-?) (A) Schwartz

8. Turnings and Age Groups Silent Generation Boomers Gen Xers Millennials Schwartz

9. Our Colleagues and our Students Schwartz

10. Generations’ Formative Influences Schwartz

11. Generations’ Formative Influences Schwartz

12. Generations’ Formative Influences Schwartz

13. Generations’ Formative Influences Schwartz

14. Millennials at School and Work • Tend to be goal- and achievement-oriented • Exhibit high levels of social concern and responsibility • Have higher expectations than any earlier generation • Data show that they are also incredibly “smart” by traditional measurement • Count on the ability to connect with cohorts immediately • Share ideas and values over a broad audience Schwartz

15. How Can We Engage Millennials • Create activities that build sense of community • Provide clear expectations and detailed, explicit instructions • Help with time management, study skills, and conflict resolution • Provide cutting-edge technology, interactive web services, and opportunities for virtual communities Schwartz

16. Helping Millennials Learn • Teacher-Learner engagement • Remember their parents have been very “present” • Collaborative learning works for them • They are very comfortable with peer engagement • Active learning in the classroom • Flipped classrooms for discussions, group projects and cooperative problem-solving • Feedback is important • Prompt, frequent, and constructive feedback works for them • Keep high expectations Schwartz

17. Communicating with Millennials • Be positive • Send a text message or meet face-to-face • Tie the message to the Millennial’s personal goals or to team goals • Don’t be condescending; avoid cynicism and sarcasm Schwartz

18. Expansive Change Schwartz

19. The NEXT Generation: What can we infer about the youngest student in our classrooms? Schwartz

20. The “Next Generation” • Born (2005-2020) • Homeland Generation • Name favored by Strauss and Howe from a web-based contest in 2005 • Also called Gen Z, Net Generation, Wii Generation • A generation's identity is shaped in the first 16 years of life • Generation of a “Crisis” turning Schwartz

21. Characteristics of “Crisis” Turning • Institutional life is redesigned in response to a perceived threat • Civic authority and community purpose are revived • Fourth Turnings are “founding moments” • Thom Hartmann interviews Neil Howe on the Fourth Turning • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZp0-DOC7Ko Schwartz

22. The “Next Generation” • Born (2005-2020) • Frank N. Magid Associates created a partial profile for Pluralists • Incredible ethnic diversity and socially diverse mixing • Last American generation that will be predominantly white • Least likely to believe in the American Dream due to economic crisis Schwartz

23. Political Formative Events Schwartz

24. Social /Cultural /Natural Formative Events Schwartz

25. Technological Formative Events Schwartz

26. Next Generation: Artist Archetype • What should we expect of them if the archetype and pattern hold true? • Good at process • Promote civility • Leadership through institutional structure • Will this be a generation of politicians? • Know lean times to have a positive work attitude • Team players • Will they have the Silent Gen’s respect for authority? Schwartz

27. Next Generation: Artist Archetype • What else should we expect of them? • Resilient and adaptive • Self-Reliant and self-directed • Balanced by tremendous individualism • Given unique names • Over-protected because their world is scary • May be a generation of “late-bloomers” Schwartz

28. Next Generation: Artist Values • What will formative experience(s) include? • May be a “small” generation due to economics • May value safety, security, conformity, and consistency • May emphasize fairness, inclusion, and social justice • May have a strong work ethic • Will likely see blended social constructs: roles, families, etc. Schwartz

29. Technology’s Impact • Technology is “Mobile, Global Connectivity” • Global community • Constantly connected—any time, any place • Total “Digital Natives” • Their parents will be also be technologically adept • Greater access to more information • Will see less need to “remember” things • Greater need for info access and processing Schwartz

30. What Are Our Best Guesses? • Homelanders will be create stability in new, diverse, social structures • They will be more accepting of—or possibly not recognize—traditional differences • They will use technology to connect to globally, though they may stay close to home • In some ways, the world can come to them through technology Schwartz

31. What Are Our Best Guesses? • They are destined to be the “rebuilders” of political, social, and cultural structures • The structures and institutions that they rebuild will probably reflect a more broad-ranging, global view and be accessed through technology • They are more likely to work within systems and structures than outside of them • Those systems will probably be significantly different than we know them today Schwartz

32. Advice from the Boomers: Teach your children well,Their father's hell did slowly go by,And feed them on your dreamsThe one they picked, the one you'll know by. Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young Schwartz

33. Questions? Schwartz

34. For more information… Key Terms, Tags, and Titles • Generation(al) Theory • Strauss and Howe • The Fourth Turning • Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584-2069 • Millennials Rising • Jean Twenge (on Millennials) • Generation Me • The Narcissism Epidemic Schwartz

35. Books You Might Want to Read Schwartz

36. Contact Information Carol Schwartz, Ph.D. Lourdes University cschwartz@lourdes.edu Schwartz