Lesson 5 Preferences of the Technology Generation

Lesson 5

Preferences of the Technology Generation

          As time goes, by people tend to develop new ways for doing things as a part of the innovation and adaptation to the changes and needs of the environment. In the field of educational it is observable in the teaching-and-learning process through the different learning styles, appropriate teaching approaches and efficient teaching strategies that is needed to accomplish certain learning objectives.

          In this chapter, the differences of the old generation and the new generation’s practices, likes, and other doings were briefly compared. The old generation has availed of slow and single-tract pattern of activities. Life has been comfortably slower for oldies as they watch and follow television tele-nobelas like Walang Hanggan patronize the movies of their favorite local performers, clinics. On the other hand the new generation is exposed to quick flicking video games, mobile phone texting, socializing through the social Web sites, and downloading text/photos/video with adeptness and task-switching speed.

         

Old Generation	New Digital Generation
Texts       · Read book texts, enriched by illustrations and photos.        · In order to research they go to the school library.	Visuals       · Have greater affinity to visuals (photos and video).       ·  Enhance their visual fluency and abilities through computer images.
Linear          · Obtained information in a linear, logical and sequential manner.        ·  Made them more logical, focused, and reflective thinkers.	Hyper media     ·  Follows a personal random access to hyperlink digital information.      ·  Less superior to elders in focus and reflection – easily bored and distracted during class lectures.
Independent ·       Traditional education system gives priority to independent learning prior to participative work.	Social Learners          · Acquainted with digital tools that adopt to both personal and participative work. ·       Digital learning is based on experimentations, discovery and intuition.
Learning to pass the test       · Old teachers teach students in order to help them pass tests and complete the course requirements.	Learning to do           · New digital learners simply wish to acquire skills, knowledge and habits as windows of opportunity afford them to learn.
Delayed Rewards ·       Unclear rewards for performance          · Grades, honor certificates or medals and diplomas including future jobs.	Instant Gratification       · Immediate scores from games, enjoyable conversations from webcam calls, excitement from email chats and inviting comments from their facebook.
Rote Memory          · Teachers feel obliged to delivering content-based courses.        · Learning that is measurable by standard tests.	Fun Learning       · Prefer fun learning which is relevant and instantaneously useful to them.           · Fun in the digital world outside the school.

          Most of us noticed the gradual changes that is happening due to advancements of technology. We observed the differences of our time today compared to our parents’ time on their generation. It is evident that the learners today prefers to engage in lessons that catches their attention. That is why the teaching-and-learning process including the teaching approaches and instructional materials that are used before may or may not be as effective today. When I was on the first up to the fourth grade we were taught in the traditional way; we used books, charts, maps and other traditional materials. Today, first up to the fourth grade learners are now taught using televisions, powerpoint presentations and other hypermedia.

          Indeed! Technological innovations really brought plenty of changes in the field of education. This caused the variations of the experiences of the old generation and the new digital generation especially on the preferences of the latter which is more the visuals, hypermedia, learning to do, instant gratification and fun learning.

          Knowing the preferences of the technology generation, teachers nowadays can adjust their teaching methods in accordance to the satisfaction of the technology learners and the achievement of the positive outcomes of the teaching-and-learning process in the new digital world of information and communication technology.