On the rising generation of traditional-age undergraduates.

1. Towards
Generation
Z
St. Michael’s
College
-
Summer
2016

2. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Bay-Area-tech-com

3. 1. Introduction
2. Millennial to
Homeland
3. The net.gen concept
4. Selected topics
5. Patterns of

4. nitle.org

5. Email: bryan.alexander@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bryanalexander
Web: http://bryanalexander.org

6.  Monthly
environmental
scan report
 Trends
identified,
tested,
projected

8. NMC
Horizon
Report 2014

9. 2: Millennial to Homeland

10. One popular index
https://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2019/

11. Since they have been on the planet:
1. Hybrid automobiles have always been mass
produced.
2. Google has always been there, in its founding words
“to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible.”
3. They have never licked a postage stamp.
4. Email has become the new “formal” communication
while texts and tweets remain enclaves for the casual.

12. 7. They have grown up treating Wi-Fi as an
entitlement.
9. The announcement of someone being the “first
woman” to hold a position has only impressed their
parents.
14. Cell phones have become so ubiquitous in class
that teachers don’t know which students are using
them to take notes and which ones are planning a
party.
15. The Airport in Washington, D.C., has always
been Reagan National Airport.
16. Their parents have gone from encouraging them

13. 17. If you say “around the turn of the century,”
they may well ask you, “which one?”
18. They have avidly joined Harry Potter, Ron,
and Hermione as they built their reading skills
through all seven volumes.
25. The therapeutic use of marijuana has always
been legal in a growing number of American
states.
27. Teachers have always had to insist that term
papers employ sources in addition to those
found online.

14. Selected demographics

15. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/millennials_report.pdf

18. Long-term racial changes

19. Who’s after the Millennials?
• Born 1995ff
• Generation Z
• Homeland Generation (
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/file
)
• Pluralists (
http://magid.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Mag
)
• Children of Gen X

20. 2.5: The economic context,
or
“Generation Screwed”
-Joel Kotkin, 2012
http://www.newsweek.com/are-millennials-screwed-generation-65523

21. Family economic situation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/17/the-typical-am
.

23. Employment woes
“As a result of the financial crisis and
globalization, the younger generation
in the mature markets struggle with
ever fewer job opportunities and the
need to support an ageing
population”
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2014/01/21/

27. It gets better, cough cough
[M]embers of the Class of 2015 currently have
better job prospects than the classes of 2009–
2014. However, the Class of 2015 still faces
real economic challenges, as evidenced by
elevated levels of unemployment and
underemployment, and a large share of
graduates who still remain “idled” by the
economy...

28. It gets better, cough cough
…In addition, wages of young high
school and college graduates have
failed to reach their prerecession
levels, and have in fact stagnated or
declined for almost every group since
2000.
http://www.epi.org/publication/the-class-of-2015/

32. K-12 experience
• Collaborative, group-learning
• Some personalization
• Testing, testing, testing

33. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university-venus/millennial-learners

34. 3: Digital natives?

37. "PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs said. "They
are still going to be around." However, he said, only
"one out of x people will need them."

39. Digital natives: 2001
“It is now clear that as a result of this
ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume
of their interaction with it, today’s students
think and process information fundamentally
differently from their predecessors.”
Marc Prensky,
“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”
(from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp)

40. “…For the most part, students’
educational use of the Internet
occurs outside of the school
day, outside of the school
building, outside the direction
of their teachers.”
Pew study, August 2002
http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=67

41. Net.gen, 2005
“Today’s Net Gen college students have
grown up with technology. Born around the
time the PC was introduced, 20 percent began
using computers between the ages of 5 and 8.
Virtually all Net Gen students were using
computers by the time they were 16 to 18
years of age…”

42. “…Computer usage is even higher
among today’s children. Among children
ages 8 to 18, 96 percent have gone online.
Seventy-four percent have access at
home, and 61 percent use the Internet on
a typical day.”
Diana and James Oblinger, eds.,
Educating the Net Generation (2005)

43. Opening the gap into college, 2005
“You are the first class of the ‘Net Generation’
or if you prefer – The Networked Generation.
You breathe bits of information as easily as
my generation breathes air.
As members of the Net Generation, you are
entering a world that needs you….”

44. “… But be aware that much of this world
will find your ways of working, learning
and socializing quite bizarre. You are
digital natives. We – the grey beards, the
baby boomers and the gen X-ers – are
digital immigrants and our practices will
need to evolve rapidly to keep up with
yours.”
John Seely-Brown
University of Michigan commencement, 2005
(http://www.johnseelybrown.com/UM05.pdf)

45. Corporations adopt the language
“[R]esearchers Ian Jukes and Anita Dosaj
refer to this disconnect as the result of
poor communication between “digital
natives,” today’s students and “digital
immigrants,” many adults. These parents
and educators, the digital immigrants,
speak DSL, digital as a second language.”
Apple web page
(http://www.apple.com/au/education/digitalkids/disconnect/landscape.html)

46. “In the case of the "digital generation,"
the class, ethnic, and geographic biases
could not be more obvious...
[E]ven at elite universities, many are not
rich enough to be all that digital. Like the
rest of us, they will use a tool if the tool
works for them and they can afford it. If
not, then not.”
Siva Vaidhyanathan,
University of Virginia, December 2007
(http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2007/12/the_problem_with_digital_nativ.php)

47. “I have spent more than a decade in the
constant company of people 18 to 23 years
old. The faces change. The age range does
not. I have to report that the levels of
comfort with, understanding of, and
dexterity with digital technology varies
greatly in every class. Yet it has not changed
in more than 10 years. Every class has a
handful of people with amazing skills…”

48. “… and a large number of people who
can't stand computers at all. A few every
year lack mobile phones. Many can't afford
any gizmos and resent assignments that
demand digital work. Most use Facebook
and Myspace because they are easy, not
because they are powerful (which, of
course, they are not).”
Siva Vaidhyanathan,
University of Virginia, December 2007
(
http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2007/12/the_problem_with_digital_nativ.php
)

49. “So let’s keep using the term, but as an
aspiration as well as a description.
Rather than pretend all kids are Digital
Natives, let’s make that our goal.
Because if we don’t act, the problems
could get even worse.”
-Jesse Baer, Harvard Law, December 2007
(
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives/2008/01/04/the-digit
)

50. In general, age
and digital tech
use are
negatively related

51. In general, age
and digital tech
use are
negatively related
(except for
LinkedIn)

52. Communications

53. In general, age
and digital tech
use are
negatively related
(except for
LinkedIn)

54. Social media for news
http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/

55. And yet
• Danah Boyd: “Teens aren't
addicted to social media.
They're addicted to each
other”

56. And yet
• Information experience

57. And yet
• Few signs of
intergenerational
hostility so far

58. 4: Selected topics

59. Privacy notes
People near the fighting between riot
police and protesters received a text
message shortly after midnight saying
“Dear subscriber, you are registered
as a participant in a mass
disturbance.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/world/europe/ukraine-protests.html

60. Privacy notes
“[T]he majority of online adults (61%) do
not feel compelled to limit the amount of
information that can be found about
them online. Just 38% say they have
taken steps to limit the amount of online
information that is available about
them...”

61. Privacy note[in comparison] “55% of online teens have
created an online profile and... most restrict
access to them in some way. Looking at adults,
their use of social networking profiles is much
lower (just 20%), but those who use the sites
appear to do so in a more transparent way.”
Pew Study, December 2007
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/229/report_displa

62. The majority of teenagers act in some way to protect their
information:
While 39% say they restrict access to their photos “most
of the time,” another 38% report restricting access “only
sometimes.” Just 21% of teens who post photos say they
“never” restrict access to the images they upload…
“Teens and Social Media”, Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden,
Aaron Smith, Alexandra Macgill
December 2007
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.asp

63. Reading decline?
"the fact is that people
don’t read anymore” - Steve
Jobs, “The Passion of Steve Jobs,” New York
Times, 2008
•General concern about bad reading habits,
decreasing amounts

64. Reading and/versus digital
• How much reading is being
done?
• How is digital reading
different?
• Literacies changing?

65. Copyright
Grown up in great age of…
• P2p trading
• Ready tools for
infringement (JD Lasica,
Darknet)
• Industries warring against
customers
Remarkable knowledge:
• Copyright law
• Fair use
• Threats of being sued
• Decreasing privacy

66. Teens as creators, authors
The majority of American teenagers are Web 2.0
content creators.
“64% of online teens ages 12-17... or or
59% of all teens... have participated in one or
more among a wide range of content-creating
activities on the internet, up from 57% of
online teens in a similar survey at the end of
2004.”

67. Teens as creators, authors
“[these activities include] share their own artistic
creations online, such as artwork, photos, stories,
or videos... create or work on webpages or blogs
for others, including those for groups they belong
to, friends, or school assignments...created their
own online journal or blog... maintain their own
personal webpage... remix content they find online
into their own creations…”
“Teens and Social Media”
Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Aaron Smith, Alexandra Macgill
December 2007
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.asp

68. One gender note
“Overall, girls dominate the teen blogosphere; 35%
of all online teen girls blog, compared with 20% of
online teen boys. This gender gap for blogging has
grown larger over time. Virtually all of the growth
in teen blogging between 2004 and 2006 is due to
the increased activity of girls.”

69. “Older teen girls are still far more likely to
blog when compared with older boys (38% vs.
18%), but younger girl bloggers have grown at
such a fast clip that they are now outpacing
even the older boys (32% of girls ages 12-14
blog vs. 18% of boys ages 15-17).”
Pew study, December 2007
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.a

70. * 97% of American teens ages
12-17 play some kind of video game.
* 99% of boys say they are gamers and
94% of girls report that they play games.”
Gaming
“Game playing is
universal, with almost all
teens playing games and at
least half playing games on
a given day.”

71. “Game playing experiences are diverse, with the most popular
games falling into the racing, puzzle, sports, action and
adventure categories.
* A typical teen plays at least five different categories of games and
40% of them play eight or more different game types.
* While some teens play violent video games, those who play violent
games generally also play non-violent games.
Game playing is social, with most teens playing games with
others at least some of the time.
* 76% of gaming teens play games with others at least some of the
time.
* 82% play games alone at least occasionally, though 71% of this
group also plays games with others.
* 65% of gaming teens play with others in the same room.”

72. “Game playing can incorporate many aspects of civic and
political life.
* 76% of youth report helping others while gaming.
* 44% report playing games where they learn about a
problem in society.”
-”Teens, Video Games, and
Civics”
HASTAC/Pew/Macathur
study, 2008

73. Millennial versus Homeland
(Magid)

74. Millennial versus Homeland
(Meeker)

75. 5: Forms of engagement

76. Where can we engage?
• Building curricula
• Embracing creativity (pedagogy,
student life)
• Shifting model of information and
digital literacy

77. Where can we engage?
• Use social media
• Make generations the subject of
intellectual conversation

78. Needed investments
• Technological infrastructure
• The right people in student life,
academic computing, library
• Capacity to redesign spaces

79. Making new spaces
https://www.flickr.com/photos/multnomahcountylibrary/18457790768/

80. Majors and minors

81. Creativity
• Expression
• New forms of publication
• Broader audience
• Remix
• That copyright issue

83. Games as pedagogical objects
“Video games… situate meaning in a multimodal
space through embodied experiences to solve
problems and reflect on the intricacies of the design
of imagined worlds and the design of both real and
imagined social relationships and identities in the
modern world.”
-James Paul Gee, 2003

84. Gaming pedagogy
Dickinson, Gettysburg, Hope
Colleges

85. Gaming pedagogy: game studies
Trinity and Depauw
U

86. Gaming pedagogy: game studies

87. Gaming and libraries
Libraries
• Collections
• Game night
• Creating
games
Defense of Hidgeon,
Games Archive:
University of Michigan

88. -Chris Lott, cited 2007
http://technagogy.learningfield.org/2007/11/19/are-yo

89. Digital literacy 2.0
• Beyond information literacy
• How to view media
critically?
• When and how to interact?

90. Why digital literacy?
“A population that knows what to do
with the tools at hand stands a better
chance of resisting enclosure. The more
people who know how to use
participatory media to learn, inform,
persuade, investigate, reveal, advocate and
organize, the more likely the future
infosphere will allow, enable and
encourage liberty and participation.”
Howard Rheingold, “Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies” (2008)

91. “Such literacy can only make action
possible, however − it is not in the
technology, or even in the knowledge of
how to use it, but in the ways people use
knowledge and technology to create
wealth, secure freedom, resist tyranny.”
Howard Rheingold, “Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies” (2008)

92. Email: bryan.alexander@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bryanalexander
Web: http://bryanalexander.org