Atari to Twitter – Dick Clark to Ryan Seacrest. Working with multi-generational learners

We view the world through different windows in the same room.   Our childhood, experiences, culture, and gender affect those views.  Our personal history helps us to make sense of our world and attach meaning to things.  Our broader, shared, social history -- our "generation" – also affects our view.  The broad, shared, social history of "generations", impacts how people attach meaning to things and the effectiveness of learning and teaching.  When we learn within our generation or in mixed generations, trainers and participants want to explore how their views shade their understanding in order to become more effective learners.  

Here then are general tips for how generations might learn and what will work best for them.  Granted, this will not apply to every individual in each generation, but it is a starting point.

Generations  

Traditionalists   Born 1925-1946  

Boomers  Born 1946-1964  

Gen-X (Xers)  Born 1965-1980  

Gen Y (Millennials)  Born 1981-2000 

Gen Z (Digital Natives/iGen)  Born 2001-X

Generation	Preferences/Styles	Instructional strategies
Boomers	·       Enjoy socializing and introduction activities ·       Enjoy creative and independent endeavors ·       Require lots of interaction and “talk” time ·       Prefer a spirit of collegiality in classroom ·       Want things to fit into the “big picture” ·       Want recognition for how well they have done ·       Team oriented, work well in groups ·       Like to explore and analyze, look at different views ·       Follow instructions well ·       Good with content ·       Often posses significant professional experience ·       Sensitive to criticism ·       May have problems with authoritarian instructors ·       Have a tendency to “know” things but not be able to do them ·       Dislikes discussion of methods with those whose views are believed to be less competent	·       Organize materials with intuitive headings ·       Use at least 12 point type for aging boomers ·       Logical, didactical lectures/presentations with encouragement for independent, follow-up reading. ·       Question & Answer ·       Pair Share, small groups for sharing ideas with intellectual peers, debating, tracking ideas of others and developing their own ·       Plan team projects.  Assign Boomers as group leaders, appealing to their “me” focus ·       Assignments for seeking out and understanding principles ·       Exploratory tasks for pursuing their curiosity lust, "What would happen if". ·       Provide feedback on quality of work as to its coherency and efficiency. ·       Journaling ·       Give plenty of time for Boomers to practice new skills alone ·       Avoid role-play exercises ·       Avoid manufactured compliments, rituals, and ceremonials

Generation	Preferences/Styles	Instructional strategies
Gen X	·       Self-reliant. Allow full control over own project ·       Require regular, if not constant, feedback ·       Require relevance in assignments and courses ·       Consider themselves to be technologically capable ·       Are adaptable and informal ·       Task oriented – like to learn new skills ·       Self-paced learning, independent learning ·       Want to have fun while they learn ·       School/life balance is important ·       Are often impatient. Speed is important ·       May lack interpersonal skills ·       Can be cynical ·       Dislikes conformity, rules, routines, "bosses" ·       Dislikes homework, preparation or getting ready for anything ·       Not good with time schedules ·       Will resist group work outside of class	·       Informal learning environments are best ·       Explain why assignments, courses, skills are important on a regular basis. Relevancy ·       Add visual appeal. Sound, color, motion. ·       Use plenty of graphics and white space ·       Use bullet points when giving info ·       Use most exciting material in short lecture (15-20 min) ·       Use pop-culture examples if possible ·       Frequent changes from large to individual to small groups to cover material. ·       Team Building ·       Problem-solving through interaction with others, asking numerous questions ·       Activities with instruments or tools, hands-on experience ·       Modeling ·       Role Play (Boomers can be observers) ·       Simulations/Games Cliffs Notes, summaries, abridged books ·       Give lots of individual attention ·       Praise for how they did their task effectively

 

Generation	Preferences/Styles	Instructional strategies
Millennials	·       Accustomed to group work ·       Comfortable with active learning ·       Technological experts.  Digital Natives ·       Goal and achievement oriented ·       Require more structure and mentoring ·       Always looking for better, faster way of doing things ·       Learn from failure ·       Motivated by money and earning potential ·       Needs and wants instant gratification ·       Want to be productive – not just attend ·       Harmony with those around them Prone to group think ·       Likely to lack critical thinking skills ·       Dislikes instructor unpredictability, "winging it' ·       Avoid long-term, independent projects ·       Dislikes being asked to speculate, invent, guess, or improvise ·       Dislikes not getting any feedback/approval on tasks accomplished ·       Dislikes competitive exercises unless it' s self-competition	·       Classes that start and end on time ·       Tie course goals in with economic gain ·       Use the most up-to-date technology and references available ·       Give reading materials for lectures and discussion early (flipped classroom) ·       Use graphics before text ·       Give lots of activities with several steps ·       Try it their way –allow them to be creative with presentations, etc. ·       Focus on skill development – not memorization ·       Build critical thinking (case studies) practice into lessons and assignments ·       Teacher-led questions and answers ·       Co-operative exercises ·       Discussion groups, interaction with instructor and peers, interactional arrangement of learning environment ·       Assign independent work with occasional feedback ·       Give frequent, positive, spot rewards ·       Look for opportunity to accept ideas and offer a genuine response.