There were many parts of the article "The Net Gen Goes to College" that I agreed with. I do think that the generation of so-called "millenials" does exist and that they do rely much more on technology. I also agree with the point made in the article that this new generation of college students and the fact that they have different learning styles is not that different from previous generations and should be expected. While I am part of the millenial generation and obviously haven't been around very long, it seems to me that there will always be changes in the way students learn in every generation.
The millenial generation was raised on technology and, according to the article, is very impatient and need instant gratification. I think that this is a very general assumption that is not always true. It is definitely true for quite a few students, including myself, and I think that something could be learned from this.
I think that teachers could use this to their advantage. If teachers could successfully incorporate technology into their lessons, many students could benefit. But even more than a focus on technology, teachers need to focus on making lessons more interactive. Because of the need for instant gratification the article states that we millenials need, it is hard to sit and listen to an hour-long lecture. I think that would be the preferred method for me. But I realize that many students do not learn like I do and enjoy lectures. This is why teachers need to teach somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Teachers need to lecture because they have very important things to teach students that can only come from their experiences. But they also need to incorporate more group and interactive work, because a lot of students work best this way.
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I agree with what Rachel has said here, but what I find most interesting is her point on how interactive a lesson should really be. Yes I think technology should be updated to keep up with the millenial generation but in this process it should be interactive. Studies show that students tend to learn better with kinesthetic activities and that should always be what continues throughout multiple generations of different learning styles.
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Very good points. I especially like what you said about how teachers need to make lessons more interactive. Going off of this comment, I think it is important for teachers, especially in younger grades, need to know how their students learn best. Each child is an individual and even though it may make the teachers job more challenging, it is essential to create various ways of learning. Some examples of this may be a hands on craft or group work or having the students do research and present. So, I agree technology should be brought more into the classroom however I also think that some students have to learn to focus their attention for set periods of time. - Kristen Domico
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