Understanding Todays Youth and Educating

Max Valiquette - Youthography

Youth is defined as 10 to 29.  The distribution of the 5 year sub-groups is even so each sub-group has equal push on popular culture.  

Adulthood is starting earlier

- starting schooling by 4 years old

- if they smoke - 1st cigarette by 12

- early onset of puberty (27% of African-American girls begin puberty by age 7)

On the opposite side Adulthood is taken on in fullness later

- average age of post secondary grad - 25

- average age of first marriage - 28

- average age of first child - 29

This is resulting in a prolonged pre-adult stage

Youth value:

1. Relationships
2. Communication (70% of teenagers have a cell phone)
3. Information
4. Diversity
5. Empowerment
6. Technology (can now send message to one person with same energy as all of your network)

Max shared an interesting consideration - 24 year olds or younger are Digital Natives, while older are Digital Tourists.  (Organizing music by CD cases and titles or click on sort by artist)

Change - things used to change but the way we get them didn't.  There has now been a change in how we get them and how much we pay for it.  TV, VCR,DVD, HD TV - each time the speed and cost has gone down.  HD TV reached 70% market penetration in 5 years.  iPods have changed 8 times in 6 years.  (The Sony Walkman took 8 years to change to the walkman 2.)

Charge - Personal Control - Culture and Control on demand - You can record you TV shows with PVR, you can purchase a cell phone without a credit card on a Pay as you go system.

Challenge - The street starts to drive and dictate trends.

NBC aired a SNL show - reached 5 million - somebody hacked it and posted to YouTube - 7 million views.  The next major skit was then sent to YouTube by NBC- instead of 5 million hits - 45 million hits.

The control is changing.  There are ways now to become a member of an online company that is a large group of consumers paying a small amount of money ($35).  SellaBand allows you to own part of an upcoming artist.  There are 21 artists that have been sponsored this way for $50 000 and 3 have already paid dividends.  There is also a soccer team, and a clothing brand done this way.

We are at a stage of convergence - You need only a couple of devices - your mobile device and desktop entertainment system (cell phone and iMac).  With an iPhone you can call, watch TV and surf the internet.  Students often start research with Google.

This all leads to choice. - The number one TV show is getting less following.  Gunsmoke in 1961 had 61 million watching it weekly.  Now American idol has 30 million weekly following but 500 channels available.  (Younger people are reading less books; however, they are reading more than any previous generation.)  

Implication for Teachers - How do we move from content providers to content facilitators.  The learning environment is changing and going to continue to change.    The main branch of the library is no longer needed.  You can request from smaller branches or access online databases with the same content.  Instead the Library is the gateway to the knowledge out there;however, so is your bedroom!

(Interesting with podcasting - How do you compare to the other 'lecturers' they are watching?)

Implications for Teachers - What is official and unofficial for referencing?

While wikipedia is not considered academic, it references other works and now other works are referencing wikipedia.  Wikipedia is more current for news than any print work or 'official' encyclopedia.  Wikipedia also contains information that you will not find anyway else such as your favourite band, artist, or product.

Content Facilitators also need to be content improvers.

The top 4 websites in Canada

1. Google
   
2. YouTube
   
3. MSN
   
4. Facebook
   

The next trend will be a single online delivery system that can go anywhere we go.  Young people have redefined book, music store, and social networking.

In closing :

10 thought starters for Education

1. They are used to networked communication
2. They are more collaborative than any previous generation
3. and they have a different definition of plagiarism and copying
4. We are on the verge of the $200 laptop
5. We can't keep media of any sort of school... and by the time they get to college, it is simply expected
6. So some of the learning that comes from you might have to come on-line
7. What if you don't have the Internet - that question is the same as what if you don't have a calculator (desk, watch, cell phone, computer)
8. What is the value of 'official' source right now? Who determines what is official any more?
9. What is a career now any way - what is the right level of education for that career?
10. Remember that as a facilitator of learning you have experience and expertise to share.

Questions

How do you get students to figure out the 178 000 hits from a search?

- Instead of Googling students will be reaching out to their networks.  If you want a hotel in Paris, you would ask your network who has been there.  Then they might give you a couple of ideas, you would then tag the sites and consider the hotels.  Once you have been, you become an additional resource in your network.

I was able to speak to Max afterward and asked how a teacher can manage to keep up with the change and all of the tools that students might bring to the classroom or want to use?

- his response was interesting that we needed to reduce the workload of teachers and reduce the curriculum to allow them to spend time together learning.  It could be that every Friday afternoon staff worked in groups and one presented to the group about teaching and learning to meet their needs.

Kevin