Understanding the Generation Z Student

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As state virtual school leaders, it’s naturally important for us to understand and connect with our students. Students are learning in schools that are increasingly more and more “powered up” with digital technologies. It is likely a mistake to assume that today’s students are similar to the previous generation of students. They are, in fact, a new kind of student.

Social scientists have labeled this current group of K-12 students as “Generation Z.” Generation Zs are those students falling after the Millennial Generation, born in the late 1990s or through the mid- 2000s. They are markedly different than their Generation Y (also known as the Millennial Generation) predecessors, and they already seem “old school” when compared to their successors, Generation Alpha.

Generation Z Background

Generation Z is the product of a turbulent time in our nation’s history that is punctuated with an incredible upswing in technology. We might think that today’s young students live in very sheltered, cushioned life with every convenience in the world at their fingertips. Some of that might be true, but it does not tell the entire story. Generation Z has grown up during a very difficult recession that they have seen firsthand. They have seen foreclosed homes in their neighborhoods. They know someone with a parent who couldn’t find a job.

Generation Z, or Gen Zs, consume more media than any generation in the past, but it’s a different type of media that often comes to them unfiltered. The GenZ media is filled with stories of terrorism and school violence. Gen Zs generally know someone who’s been to war. They’ve never known a time when they have not had to take off their shoes before boarding an airplane. School violence does not get lost in the news cycle for them. It’s frighteningly real. In a sad commentary, Gen Zs ranked the top events (Cassandra Report, 2013) that have had the most impact in their lifetimes.

Here’s a reverse order look at the top three:

3. The first Black President was elected

2. The emergence of social networking

1. School violence

Do you know how much of an impact something has to have to unseat Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and Facebook from the number one spot?

Resilient Z

Gen Zs are resilient. Digital content and constant gaming have not only rewired their minds, it’s also led them to disregard “no-win scenarios.”

From Emily Anatole’s Generation Z: Rebels With A Cause

Gen Z is smaller in numbers (than Gen Ys), but there is evidence to suggest that their influence, fueled by an innate and constant connection to the world around them, will outstrip their size.

Whereas Gen Ys (ages 18-34) are optimistic, Gen Zs are realistic. They understand how scary the world can be, having grown up post 9/11, in the wake of the Great Recession and amid countless reports of school violence. They’ve seen the effects of the economy firsthand and are more aware of troubling times. These dark events will undoubtedly make them more cautious and security-minded, but will also inspire them to improve the world.

The Gen Zs are proving to be more socially responsible, but don’t count on their blind loyalty. They’ve not shown brand loyalty in the marketplace, and they’ve witnessed the lack of corporate loyalty when their own parents and older siblings lost their jobs during the recession.

The Internet is allowing Gen Zs to do things that their previous generations couldn’t do. The Internet and digital apps are letting them become entrepreneurs and make exciting breakthroughs at an early age. If they need funding, they’re finding it on Kickstarter. Teens like Sam Washko, Shree Bose, Christopher Tate, and Rachel Davis exemplify exactly what this crowd of young students can produce.

This is the common model for success with this crowd of high achievers:

Challenges + Internet + Digital Tools + Models of Innovation = Success

Classroom Translation

What are our takeaways for our classroom, virtual as well as brick-and-mortar? First and foremost, we have to make education relevant for them. They see way too much of the real world and are connected to it through social media in ways that we never were. NCVPS teachers are required to make daily announcements in their courses. One of the features of the daily announcement is to show the relevancy of what students are learning to what is happening in the real world. We do not just rely on course content. Our teachers are creators, as well. We’ve always known that relevance is essential in education. Now it’s imperative.

We also need to make education engaging. We need to play on the strength of Gen Zs and appeal to their need for multi-media consumption and engage them in online communities. At NCVPS we have graphic user interface (GUI) specialist who adds engaging game-like learning objects to all of our courses, and we design our courses to meet a variety of learning styles, including text, video, audio, and images.

Phil Parker writes in “Do you know how Generation Z pupils learn?”

They are kids with brains rewired by the internet – answers to questions come from Google and YouTube, but they lack the critical-thinking skills to evaluate sources. According to Stanford University, this is freeing up brain capacity to develop such skills far earlier than previous generations. Gen Z are fast becoming the most successful problem-solving generation.

Their brains have become wired to sophisticated, complex visual imagery. Audio and kinesthetic learning is out. So is talk – or lecturing as Gen Z sees it. They’re avid gamers, they’ll spend 30,000 hours gaming by the age of 20. They want learning to be the same: a sequence of challenges with instant feedback on progress, clear goals and rewards linked to them. Their gaming profile is shown at the end of the challenge which displays their overall accomplishments; e-Learning profiles are what they demand. You want to engage Gen Z? Turn lessons into video games!

Sarah Fudin adds in “GEN Z & WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN YOUR CLASSROOM?“

  • Leverage technology to provide immediate feedback and use game-based learning.
  • Engage students in a variety of collaborative projects that use social media.
  • Make lessons visual.
  • Focus on critical thinking and problem-solving lessons.
  • Teach students how to validate online content.
  • Have students work on projects in depth and complexity.
  • Exercise!

We would love to hear your feedback on your Generation Z observations. Are they demonstrating these characteristics in your classroom, or in your home? How are you satisfying your digital needs? Drop us a note or leave us a comment.

By Adam Renfro, Outreach and Support Coordinator, North Carolina Virtual Public School

 

 

 

 

 

 

Online Learning a Lifeline for Rural Schools

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Rural communities are near and dear to my heart. I have lived in a rural community for more than 40 years in a Northern Wisconsin community bordering the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you live in a rural community or are familiar with such areas, you know how important the school is to the community. Starting in the 80’s and 90’s I witnessed our small rural district (K-12 population of 140) utilize an Interactive Video classroom through a distance education network to provide advanced courses, credit recovery, and world languages. In the early 2000’s the district transitioned to online courses to fill in gaps in curriculum. Despite the online options that exist for rural schools, however, there remain challenges to grasp a critical lifeline that can lead rural students to increased course access and post secondary paths.

The “High School Benchmarks 2014, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center” makes this point relative to the likelihood of rural students attending college compared to their urban peers: “In general, rural high school graduates are less likely than their urban peers to attend an institution of post-secondary education. According to research, rural students are less likely than their urban and suburban peers to attend college regardless of the demographics of their high school. The only exception is Low-Income/High-Minority schools where only about half of students, regardless of locale attend college in the fall after high school graduation.” Along similar lines, the Columbus Dispatch’s recent article, “Rural Kids Get Fewer AP Courses,” stated, “a first-of-its-kind analysis of high-school courses offered by Ohio districts finds that students living in poorer, more rural areas of the state have access to fewer overall classes, and far fewer high-level courses, than do students living in suburban and urban districts.” Wisconsin Public Television aired Support Systems for Increasing Rural College Access. This episode discussed the factors facing rural Wisconsin students on a path to educational opportunities after high school. Challenges, solutions, support systems at the local and national level were highlights.

Many factors are leading to rural school challenges: declining enrollments, high socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, high transportation costs, a lack of computer and Internet access in homes, low teacher pay and high turnover. All can lead to low student achievement, low achievement leading to a perception of poor quality, poor perceptions of quality leading to failed referendums (a mechanism in Wisconsin to request additional dollars for education from local taxpayers), shortages of highly qualified teachers, fewer electives…do I need to say more!

Online learning is one solution to breaking the cycle of rural educational challenges. We can improve access (broadband and infrastructure) that can lead to increase in equity of options which includes access to high quality teachers in areas of shortages, improved confidence in quality digital resources, and professional learning for effective use of digital learning. These not only provide a lifeline to rural schools, but also build more pathways for our rural students to participate in post secondary options.

How can we provide this lifeline? It takes commitment and collaboration. Legislators in Wisconsin are reviewing recommendations made by the Speaker’s Rural Task Force. A current program called TEACH (Technology for Educational Achievement), subsidizes much of the cost to provide telecommunication access to eligible schools, libraries, and educational institutions which has been and is a lifeline to rural schools. TEACH 2.0, a recommendation from the Task Force would expand TEACH. It would be built on four pillars: 1) Increase current TEACH Funding for Broadband Expansion for Schools and Public Libraries, 2) Re-Establish Technology Block Grants for Hardware and Infrastructure Needs, 3) Provide State Support to Enhance School District Access to Digital Learning Content, and 4) Provide Grant Support for Professional Learning on Effective Instruction Using Digital Tools.

TEACH 2.0 pillars three (digital content) and four (professional learning) are interdependent on the other two pillars, districts having adequate broadband access and updated infrastructures. Enhancing schools’ access to digital learning content and supporting professional learning for using digital tools for instruction can be achieved by utilizing a valuable asset that 26 states have….a state virtual school. State virtual schools have been providing supplemental online courses across their states for over a decade in many cases. Recently, they have expanded services to support districts with their blended learning options, and also offer support for college and career readiness. Efforts by Montana Digital Academy’s Ed Ready Montana program or Idaho Digital Learning’s iPath are excellent examples of college readiness initiatives led by state virtual schools. Montana’s EdReady program focuses on preparing students for college-level math and a desired career path by revisiting possible gaps in general math skills and providing skills development opportunities. This potentially saves students (and parents) tuition costs for remedial courses at colleges. Idaho’s Digital Learning Path is a statewide early college high school model that provides all the coursework required to earn college credit, industry certification, or even an associate’s degree WHILE in high school primarily thorough online coursework.

Here in Wisconsin we have the Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC), a partnership between Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS), Wisconsin eSchool Network (WEN), and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). WVS and WEN collaborate with DPI to provide a single point for schools to access quality online courses and services. Combined, these two programs support pathways for schools to provide a variety of online and blended learning opportunities. TEACH 2.0 would provide a modest commitment of investment to support further development and implementation of digital learning opportunities for all public, private, and charter schools. Rural schools would benefit from 1) equitable access to high quality instruction, and 2) lowered costs through economy of scale purchases, reducing per student cost of high-quality instruction and digital content choice. Statewide licensing of digital content and a learning software platform has a high potential for significant return on state taxpayer’s dollars.

The Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative has the ability to use its experience and expertise to navigate acquisition and development of digital content. The WDLC has provided many hours of high quality professional learning for online teachers. Commitment from state legislatures to support their state virtual school and the collaboration among organizations can provide a lifeline to rural districts to meet challenges such as course access and post secondary paths. Rural schools are near and dear to my heart and others, and critical to communities across the country.

Dawn Nordine, Executive Director, Wisconsin Virtual School