As a self-professed Millennial I have been fortunate enough to experience technology truly BOOM. I was in 1st grade when I started learning to type in school, 3rd grade when we had a PC at home with floppy and hard disks, cell phones started entering high school, facebook my freshmen year in college, etc. You get the picture.
I recently read an article about how technology is helping bridge Baby Boomers and Millennials as we exit and enter the workplace. I took note of a few items:
1) While the recession is shaping the Millennial attitude, a recent study commissioned by the Career Advisory Board indicated that “both Millennials and their managers agree on the strengths (e.g. digital comfort) and weaknesses (e.g. impatience with established processes) of the younger generation…Millennials will manage their careers by pursuing advanced education, changing professions and work situations, and overcoming unique challenges associated with the 21st century workplace.
I'm glad to hear that studies have validated my tendencies and habits down to my strengths and weaknesses. However, I wonder if our impatience for established processes is because we do collaborate so often and in such a manner that the main theme is always progress. I feel that my weakness is not impatience as much as it is the unwillingness to be complacent. I have an internal desire to move forward, to push boundaries, to keep going to school, to explore new technologies and to find A+ Millennials I can collaborate with to create the best in educational technology and design. I would like to say that while we are eager to revamp processes, create efficiencies and progress forward we must understand the established process and then communicate our thought processes not just program them and share the end result.
2) This technology mindset also has major implications for how schools, colleges, and universities prepare them for the workforce. In fact, this generation is driving the shift across all educational institutions as they struggle to develop teaching approaches that are relevant, engaging, and more effective than the majority of today’s traditional classrooms.
As I apply to enter a second Master's program in Instructional Design I can't help but feel immensely frustrated when I hear this. 1) It is true in my experiences with the various universities I have worked at and attended. 2) Why wasn't all of this technology shared while I was in school? Along with all of the job opportunities available within such technologies? However there are schools and 3rd party vendors that are making tremendous strides to improve the "eLearning" experiences and to appeal to multiple intelligences in order to "connect" with students.
Working in higher education I hope that I am able to create engaging and effective programs for students to learn about Student Affairs topics. I hope that someday I am able to leave a footprint in how we train our student workers on campus from Campus Recreation, Student Union/Activities, Student Government, Stu.Orgs. & Greeks, RAs, etc. Additionally, in how we interact with students on topics such as financial literacy, sexual assault, advising, FYE/Orientation, campus health, etc.
Last but not least technology is not only a bridge between generations but it is a facilitator between individual exploration and face to face interaction.
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Check this out about shifting the way we teach/learn/think to how we are. Thank you Sir Ken Robinson for "Changing Education Paradigms".
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