The Millennial Student in the Classroom: My, How Things Have Changed! by Victoire Gerkens Sanborn Technology has always assisted teachers and students in instruction. The proliferation of Web 2.0 media and digital devices has made it harder for adult education teachers to keep up with an ever changing and expanding choice of technologies and equipment. For the older generation, mastering today’s digital resources is akin to learning a foreign language, whereas younger learners view technology as a natural part of their environment. This article examines the digital divide between teachers, many of whom belong to Gen-X and Baby Boomer generations, and students who were born after 1982, and how adult education and literacy programs must strive to help these adult students acquire the digital literacy and critical thinking skills needed to meet the challenges of life in the 21st century. In the past decade, teachers and administrators of adult education and literacy programs have experienced the influx of millennials to their multicultural, multilevel classrooms. Considered to be digital natives, these students, born between 1982 and 2002, share unique characteristics that include a preference for: group activities and collaborative team assignments; lessons with simulations, games, and online resources; multi-tasking; experiential learning; a teaching environment that balances lectures with interactive hands-onactivities; texts
PROGRESS :. Volume 23, No. 3
that are rich in graphics; and communication with peers and teachers via IM (instant) and text messaging. With their experience in gaming, millennials do not consider losing as Millennials are a failure but rather goal-oriented as an opportunity and prefer clear to learn. Gaming directions and has taught them to schedules. persist in solving problems, expect immediate feedback, and try alternate routes towards achieving a goal. These expectations have been transferred to the classroom. Past performance provides an opportunity for reflection, growth, and a way to succeed. While they have shorter attention spans and are easily bored, millennials prefer to learn by doing and working in collaborative situations. They are also goal-oriented and prefer clear directions and schedules that will help them to stay on task. Unfortunately, most research about millennials favors the well-educated upper middle class youth over young adult basic education and ESOL literacy learners, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Yet these disparate groups, including those from different generations, do share some characteristics. In “Boomers, Gen-exers & Millennials: Understanding the New Students,” Diana Oblinger describes today’s undergraduate students, 61% of whom are under age 25, as being multicultural and nontraditional. Eighty percent are employed, with many working 35 hours or more while enrolled. Many are single parents or lack a high school diploma.1 While millennials share some characteristics with other age groups, they also possess qualities that are unique to their cohort. Many feel free to appropriate online information for personal use or school work without consideration of copyright laws. They expect a graphically rich visual environment and are easily bored with long lectures in class, Continued on page 14 ... 7
