The+Millennial+Teacher+and+Learner

The Pew Research Center describes [|Millennials as America's newest generation], the teens to twenty year olds who were born between 1980s and 2000-2002. Its oldest members are approaching age 30; its youngest are approaching adolescence. A few things we know about Millennials, our current and future ACE teachers:
 * They are the most ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the nation's history. Among those ages 13 to 29: 18.5% are Hispanic; 14.2% are black; 4.3% are Asian; 3.2% are mixed race or other; and 59.8%, a record low, are white.
 * They are starting out as the most politically progressive age group in modern history. In the 2008 election, Millennials voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 66%-32%, while adults ages 30 and over split their votes 50%-49%. In the four decades since the development of Election Day exit polling, this is the largest gap ever seen in a presidential election between the votes of those under and over age 30.
 * They are the first generation in human history who regard behaviors like tweeting and texting, along with websites like Facebook, YouTube, Google and Wikipedia, not as astonishing innovations of the digital era, but as everyday parts of their social lives and their search for understanding.
 * They are the least religiously observant youths since survey research began charting religious behavior.
 * They are more inclined toward trust in institutions than were either of their two predecessor generations -- Gen Xers (who are now ages 30 to 45) and Baby Boomers (now ages 46 to 64) when they were coming of age.
 * Millenials - Confident, Connected, Open to Change is a report by Pew Research group that may be of interest. To find out HOW MILLENNIAL ARE YOU? take [|this short quiz] and see what you have in common with Millennials.

In an article entitled [|How Millenials Use Tech at Work,] technology is an essential part of their day and see it as a must for their work productivity. "Web apps are also gaining favor in the young workplace. Around 75 percent of respondents said they used online collaboration tools and applications for work purposes; many of these millenials also thought that workplaces should be improving their use of emerging technologies. "Globally," states the report, "about one-half of millennials have accessed online collaborative tools, online applications and open-source technologies from free public websites when those technologies are not available at work or when the versions offered at work don't meet millennials' expectations." Young people's expectations are also high when it comes to selecting their next employer. Not only did 37 percent of respondents say they want to see state-of-the-art technology being used in their prospective workplace; just as recruiters and hiring managers often snoop around search and social sites to investigate a potential hire's character, the millenial job-hunter will check up on prospective companies, peers and bosses, as well."

To learn more of how Millennials use and view using technology in schools, check out [|Millennials in Education] website.

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What are we to expect from the Millennial Generation*? The following list of characteristics is a generalization of the generation--it may not describe every member, but it will certainly serve as a good starting point. 1. Millennials Are Sheltered This is the "Baby on Board" Generation. From birth, this generation has taken a place of priority in the world. Parental control can be found in car monitoring devices to their own Facebook accounts as a means of tracking their child's online activity. In addition, teachers of this generation have found that parents are quick to come to their child's defense, often being dubbed "helicopter parents." This, however, often leads to a child's greater trust in parents and those in positions of authority. 2. Millennials Are Team Oriented Another characteristic of this generation, their desire to work in teams, can also be employed in our educational setting. While most will think immediately of chamber music, peer interaction can be achieved in a variety of settings. Monthly group lessons, theory classes and studio classes are all excellent means of connecting students whose main musical study occurs in a private setting. Those with access to piano labs can easily take advantage of this learning tool by offering classes as the primary learning environment, and college piano class instructors will see enormous benefits from allowing peer-to-peer teaching through small group activities. 3. Millenials Are Multitaskers While pedagogues can certainly make the learning process more in line with generational characteristics, not all of their traits are conducive to learning. The Millennial multitasker may have the ability to text, talk, do homework and listen to music, but that does not mean they are efficiently retaining information needed. Several studies gauging the effectiveness of multitasking and learning have shown that learning does suffer when one is attempting to process several layers of unrelated information at once. A 2006 study conducted by the University of California at Los Angeles tested subjects' abilities to learn a simple memory test while counting random tones played during the test. (1) They found that, although the multitasking didn't necessary harm short-term memory, it did cause the information to be more difficult to retrieve at a later time. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, neuroscientists from the study indicated that distractions present during the time of learning might need to be reenacted for the memory to be retrieved[|. * Source]

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