Teaching Generation Z

It is certainly easier dealing with students who are open for technology when delivery and online learning is involved.

In 2020 I had a group ranging all the generations. The bby boomer was keen to practise his skill, Gen X were comfortable with the tech, and gen Y & Z really had to be stimulated from a new angle regularly to maintain their attention.

Just when I thought I had the style down, I had to adjust to suit another gen!

When I was asked to switch my face to face class to MS Teams or Adobe connect it was a shock to most of my students as they were in that age group that felt unsure of using a new platform. I reassured them it would be ok and we will all learn together. To my surprise, most of them researched google to read up on MS Teams. In every class, they mentioned that they prefer being on campus connecting with friends and collaborating in a class atmosphere rather than on MS Teams. A few of the students did not… Read more »

As someone else mentioned, I also found it interesting during COVID last year when we had to switch our delivery to online via MS Teams. Although most of the students coped with it, young and old alike, they mostly seemed to prefer the face to face classes. The one positive that I saw was some of the quieter students more willing to participate in the chat pod. I have used Kahoots and MS forms in the classroom successfully to create a blend of these environments and will look for more opportunities to engage learners in the mediums they are most… Read more »

Something that I learned from teaching online in 2020 due to Covid 19 was that most of my students (young adults, both domestic & international students), like technology but really value the face-to-face teaching as well. Some of them really struggled with the technology and didn’t like the assumption that Gen Z and Gen Y are all tech savvy. They struggled and many were embarassed to ask for or accept help. When we returned to face-to-face teaching I found that some “hybrid” techniques worked well. For example I might run an in-class activity by providing a link to a Google… Read more »

As an adult ed language teacher I don’t see many students in the Generation Z category. The few that have attended class are usually very good with technology and are happy to help their classmates. They can get bored especially if they finish work quickly. I then usually have extension work for them or I ask them to help a classmate. We use a SMART board and desktop computers as well as students’ personal mobile phones. I have used Kahoot as a warmer and for revision. I have found WhatsApp and MS Teams to be effective for connected learning. Gen… Read more »

A great way to reach students of Gen Z is via the use of tehir mobile phones. Because they are wired all the time to their phones, to use apps like Kahoot, I find that they become instantly more engaged. Communicating important information like enrolment confirmation and assessment work due and online meeting times, I find responses are much better when sms is used rather than email.

Unique Characteristics about Gen Z is about technology and being connected on line. I find it challenging when their phones are a distraction in a class lesson environment which can be distracting to me a as a teacher. Strategies i have used is asking them how we can create a win win solution so it’s fair to both myself and them which seems to work. I like to use SWAY for presentations and photos of their work and send links to students which they find helpful and easy to access on their phones. Students who require more one on one… Read more »

Another thing I find is that they often lack the concentration is on 1 task for too long whether it is a practical skill or on technology. And when on technology if they don’t find what they are after ASAP there is frustration setting in too quickly and it is someone else fault they can’ t find what they are after.

We need to encourage students to use a range of technology and resources that support their learning. Sometimes i notice that students get hooked on a particular piece of technology or program that is not adaptable, they then get stuck… and need to be encouraged to try new resources.

A characteristic I regularly find when teaching Gen Z students is that they have access to multiple alternative sources of information on the subject that we are learning about.
My key challenge is to point out to them to ensure the credibility of the source as otherwise they may get misguided.
The strategy I use is to constantly ask them to access credible sources only. (For example if they are studying about the economy of Australia the Reserve Bank of Australia website will be a credible source, however most times they will access a non-credible source by web browsing).

I enjoy teaching gen Z since i need to continuously dance on my toes, it keeps me “alive”. They do tend as Chris was saying rely a lot on technology, but if you use that reliance to your advantage and provide students with a lot of engaging platforms you do get a high level of student participation.

One of the main challenges I have noticed with teaching generation Z is their tendency to be dependent on technology. As a teacher who has taught in schools, universities and now in vocational institutions, students ability levels in writing, spelling and using correct grammatical rules has diminished greatly. They are also overly reliant on google. That said, using some of this technology within classes to reach students who, in the past have been unable to participate (think students with disabilities and learning difficulties) has been great, so technology has been a bit of a double edged sword.

Share your experiences teaching Gen Z. Gen Z want to learn when they see the purpose and fun way to work together to produce an item that they can share with the rest of the group. They are eager to use technology in this process. What are their unique characteristics? Most Gen Z students find writing for periods of time tiresome to the point of aguish. They are energetic groupwork/team players unaware of the noise they make. They want to publish and perform what they’ve created/researched/typed. What are some of the challenges? Encouraging students to proof read their projects and… Read more »

Sizable number of VET students where I teach comes from Gen Z. The most noticeable characteristic of this cohort in my opinion is the lack of communication and participation. They are generally quiet and don’t tell if they are having any difficulty. I encourage them to let their teachers know if they need any help. The message does not seem to be getting through as we lose several students halfway through the semester. When we try to contact them via email, normally we don’t hear back. One possible explanation is that they might have enrolled in a “wrong” course. As… Read more »

Technology is a great boon for education, the immediacy of information at your fingertips. However, conceptual learning and retention may be a problem. I used to think it didn’t matter if you could not recall information, because all you had to do is search again, and there it is again–and it may be an updated version.

I do find it hard to teach when students are looking on their phone. If you ask them to put them away its like you are punishing them or even physically hurting them. Its interesting hearing the statistics on this, they really have been raised to be addicted to these devices so we can’t expect any other behaviour.

I think that teaching Gen Z has its positives and negatives. Personally I have an 8yr old son who has Autism and technology has been amazing Ibn helloing him to engage and collaborate with peers. Something that he really has a hard time doing. I feel that as teachers and educators we need to adapt our teaching to meet the students needs and learning abilities;ities, no matter which generation they stem from

As I teach in a trade class to engage students I give a research activity where they have to use YouTube to find a style they connect with then they have to create the style in class and then have a class discussion on the technique used.

Gen Z do see short text like language as the norm. The challenge is to keep them focused and retaining their interest throughout a session. I find variety and mixed modes of delivery the key. There are a wealth of resources around on youtube, TED Talks and games, crosswords, multiple choice on moodle.

Sounds like he was just talking about my kids! I try to interact with my kids through Snap-chat etc but they generally just block me lol. My students however don’t (well most don’t). I set up groups on Whats App or Facebook in my ESL classrooms and i find its the younger students that contribute the most this way whereas in class they are often the quiet ones.

Most of my students are very engaged with technology because they are migrants and refugees who are in contact with family overseas, they love music and enjoy having it on in the background during class and they like a lot of action in the classroom. They come from cultures that have a lot of music and dancing. Some of the challenges for me are using technology in meaningful ways (I am teaching English) and finding/creating technology resources that are interesting but adjusted for their level of English skills. Strategies to use could be noticing what and how they use technology… Read more »

I find with teaching generation Z you need to keep it new and exciting. I often will have one outcome I want them to achieve and practice that skill or idea through various ways. I often will have 3-5 different tasks that achieve one outcome. Generation Z like to learn through practical means and pen to paper just doesn’t really engage them. This generation needs to feel engaged and as soon as they are not they want to focus on something else. Being flexible and keeping things new and exciting helps them to focus more.

The previous video made me rethink my expectations of how students “should” engage in a classroom. Even when I look at my own habits, I find I am getting better with multi tasking and interruptions, noise levels etc so I can see why my students can focus on more than one task or noise at a time.

I teach Beauty Therapy at TAFE and I’m a X Gen teaching Gen Z so yes my School and TAFE experience is very different to what my learners are experiencing now. They are so lucky as they have so many more recourses to engage and use and the learning technology has come such a long way. Most of my learners have phones where you can get them to look up information and you can also have fun with Kahoot games. Plus we use Google classroom plus we have Moodle that engage our learner where ever they are now on campus… Read more »

Listening to the lecture earlier I can see these traits in my win children who are GenZ. The way they learn and how they function is vastly different to mine as I grew up with chalk and talk method of learning (I did not do well there). I, as a learner, did well in the adult learning context where student verbal participation is most common verbalised, I talk and learn, Gen Z I have found in my teaching does not work so well, but they express themselves well using their e language which is a recent development.

I think this is a very important issue for educators, especially those of us who are from a very different generation and have been teaching as long as the age of Gen Z students. I still scratch my head sometimes why we still use very outdated methods (that we used as part of our education) of delivery and assessing to a generation who is used to a very different, modern technological world Personally, from an education perspective, as a responsibility to the next generation, we should be grasping and engaging and looking at both ways to better deliver as well… Read more »

I think once you have an understanding of the ability and actually comfort that students have in multitasking, working with distractions and noise….then it opens up exciting opportunities to assist your students to learn in this new environment.

With COVID19 is challenging for many students to use technology. In many cases people don’t have the resources and money to access online education.

I actually get these students to use their phones in class as tools for research and problem solving.
If they are using this time for social media i simply ask them if it is helping with research and problem solving. If it is helping they will volunteer the info quite happily. If they are using the time to ‘ not engage’ and chat with social media friends, this becomes a friendly reminder to re-join the class.

I think the generations bring a new and exciting challenge. We need to understand and relate to these students as we can, as they need. We need to learn as much as we can and involve each student in their learning. We need to remember they are part of a generation but also individuals.

This generation is far more adaptable to the use of technology, which was recently demonstrated to me when we moved from face-to-face classes to connected delivery via MS Teams. The challenge for me has been to balance the variety of generations in the classroom and cater to all their needs with the move to connected delivery. Overall it has been positive. Students have been interested and engaged with the new methods of teaching.

its great to embrace the learners mode of learning however I find that organizationally we don’t have the equipment or resources to do so
Our methods of assessment are outdated and also don’t suit these skill sets that this generation have

In F2F classes they see their mobile phones as mandatory. On the positive side, with many of my students having English as a 2nd language, they use their phones to look up a translation or something they don’t understand. On the negative side, they are also constantly checking their phones – messages, FB, Instagram. This fear of missing something is a constant challenge in the classroom, trying to keep them focused. Now with COVID and online teaching it is harder to monitor, (so heavens knows what else they are doing during online classtime!) although they do seem quite happy to… Read more »

In the COVID connected learning environment, I’m finding the Gen Z are engaging well. They will comment and interact far more than in a face to face situation. I have also noticed that they will help guide others in this connected forum. This is quite different in face to face where they will not offer as much assistance to others.

I deliver a lot of short live online courses using connected classroom technology where students are required to be visible and in attendance for a minimum of 6 hours. This is quite a challenge especially when the Gen Z students are wired to their mobile phones and are expected to focus on other forms of technology to successfully complete the course. They may also be in a classroom by themselves so I have adopted a method of ensuring I communicate with each student regularly and make a note of each time I have interacted with them. It is vitally important… Read more »

With COVID-19 we are no longer able to teach face to face during the pandemic. I was nervous about going to connected learning methods. i.e. Microsoft Teams and how we would keep students engaged online. I find the conversation and interaction seems to be less in an online class, however, they will happily comment in the chat bar, or scan QR codes and complete Microsoft Forms, and also menti meter works well. I think we have to be constantly trying new things and be willing to adapt to working with the students in what formats they respond best too. I… Read more »

Attitude is certainly the first characteristic that comes to mind and after session one mentioning that I am part of this Gen-Y bracket I can see these shifts even in myself and the way I have learned or learning. Always leaving things till the last minute is another but the most interesting is they are able to do anything on a phone including emails but unable to do them on a laptop or desk top; also including emails. Challenges are keeping them engaged and keeping them on a schedule (to get assessments in on time). Technology used to keep them… Read more »

I find phones really useful for recording results of group activities such as observations of appearances of test samples etc – this is useful for reports on the investigations. Also group tasks recorded on the whiteboard etc. If they are recording what they see in the microscope their hands are much steadier than mine – younger or better fine motor skills?

I agree with many on here. I have found that allowing students to use their phones as part of their learning helps in keeping them interested and engaged.
Also, encouraging the students to take a little control of which content they want to explore and which activities they would like to do, can make the classroom experience more enjoyable for all.

Having flexible students means I do not have the F2F problems with Gen Z, but they do want links on where they can find information and expect instant answers from the sites.

There is an assumption that Gen Z have great tech skills – I feel they have great Social Media skills – but need help creating a work document, or inserting a table!
It is sad they avoid taking risks – with risk comes reward

I have noticed that Gen Z students are always easily distracted by the messages on the phones They are always connected on social media and feel like lost if they are asked to switch off their phones in class. I find their distraction becomes less if they are given some visual presentation and are using technology to learn.

My experience with generation Z is that they expect to be connected and able to access information at any time. My approach to is to use teaching methods that engage them through the use of technology.

I find that the experience of teaching Gen Z is that they often come to a classroom with substantial prior knowledge of the subject being taught. Teaching trade skills to high school students that interest them, ensures that they are well researched via social media, facebook , ista and YouTube clips . The main challenge is demonstrating and gaining their acceptance that I am also an expert in my field and guiding them to resources that are indeed excellent in the social media realm. Many short sharp activities, group discussions, whole class discussions work well. As long as everyone has… Read more »

I find Gen Z to be confident and tech savvy. The challenges for this group of learners is they have short attention span, they become bored quickly and skim through things.
Strategies I use to engage my learners is to be more specific and to the point, to be done in chunks and give regular breaks.
Resources used are light probe, desk computers, powerpoint presentation and email. With COVID-19 and remote delivery use of Microsoft teams meetings, smart phones, Microsoft forms and electronic documents.

Students are NOT all ‘tech savvy’. In fact, the whole myth of the ‘digital native’ overlooks the fact that kids simply use technology as a tool, as when they need it. This is different from being ‘tech savvy’ . What young people are is less worried about technology then older people, simply because they have grown up with it. They don’t worry about making mistakes. However, they do push back when technology is imposed on them unexpectedly ( as in the recent lock up of the world), and the suspension of face to face classes. So many assumptions are presented… Read more »

In 2020 i used ZOOM to communicate with the student for Home Learning.. Due to COVID 19 lock down.

For the lower grade disability students, I set up SEESAW which is a primary level of technology platform.

I teach YK and my students ask me to look up informations on subjects such as sharks and spiders on google. The use of books as information is almost redundant. Although I provide opportunities for them to undertake “hands on” learning, IT is unsurpassable – saves time finding specific information and engages students with video.

Younger students love to interact and be given responsibility to help out. They enjoy stories that show a little vulnerability on the part of the teacher and love to tell their own stories.