Generation Y & Z

Today, February 26th, we have learned about Generation Y & Z.

About Generation Y we know that they:

– Are born in the 1980s

– Are optimistic, competitive, and self-confident, but they get bored quickly

– Like teamwork and multitasking jobs, and they seek personal development

– Have no patience and no respect for authorities

About Generation Z we know that they:

– Are born between 1989 and 2012

– Are massive ICT users, digital natives, independent

– Expect to feel free and comfortable in the learning classroom, expect to learn and play at the same time, and expect that their teacher know their first name

– Socialize on the Internet and meet in real life (Generation Y-child has friends and become friends with them on Facebook. A Generation Z-child find friends online and meet afterwards)

Our thoughts:

Lone: ”You might have 800 friends on Facebook, but for what purpose? Has it become a competition? Are you really friends? Or only “friends”? You see a picture on the Internet and read a couple of facts, and then you decide from that if you are a match or not – is that really friendship? Isn’t real social interaction the best way to make friends anymore? Can we now place ourselves in the virtual world and make a living there? Or in the future?

When we want to teach using e.g. Facebook or teach through live-streaming directly to the students, do we then encourage our students to use the Internet more for social interaction, and through that become even more unsocial in real life? Is it in that direction we want the society to move? Using ICT as a teaching tool is beneficial for our students in many ways, but I think it is worth considering if it might “take over” our entire world some day… Maybe we should not overdo it…”

”I am part of the Y Generation. I do find myself in some of the characteristics of this generation, but I’m a completely stranger to others. For exemple, regarding the authority position, I do respect a form of authority, but only if I accept it as being so. And I accept things when I’m sure I’ve understood what they’re about. My need for affiliation exists, but I’m not trying to satisfy it through Facebook or other social networks.

I think it is important for us- the Y generation – to learn how to keep a balance when using the ICT tools , and even more important, to learn the next generations how to do it”

“Can we really talk about YGen?

Yes, we can” (B.Obama copyrighted)

BUT…In my case, am I a YGen person? And does everybody who’s born between 1980 and 2000 be placed in this category? I’m born in 1981 and in my classroom the other students are 10 years younger than me. Sometimes i feel quite close, but sometimes i don’t understand who they are, what they are talking about and the way they are thinking.

In this part, I will only talk about the differences between us and the questions I want to ask them:

Do you really need to be connected, linked everywhere? If you loose you smartphone, will you survive? Do you really have 2000 friends? Or is it only on Facebook? Is it always “Right here, right now”?

I ask you because I have a smartphone, I’m on Facebook but, sometimes, i don’t understand everything and I want to.
Am I too young to be old or too old to be young? I don’t know… I think I’m a part of the Y generation but not all the time.

Last point, I’m not complaining about my situation at all, because it’s funny to say :”When I was young…”

Jean-Marc

Do you really belong to Generation Y? If you want to know it you can answer these questions:

– “Are you optimistic and self-confident?”

– “Do you get bored quickly?”

– “Do you spend lots of hours on your computer?”

– “Do you like team work?”

– “Are you opened to new experiences?”

– “Were you born between 1980 and 2001?”

– “Is important to you to find  the balance between your job and your life?”

– “Are you interested in needs and passions?”

If you answer affirmatively to these questions, maybe you are a part of the Y Generation.

These are lots of different characteristics of Y Generation. Should I have all of them to be part of Generation Y? I think I am part of it, but I don’t like spending lots of hours with my computer. I prefer meeting my friends and talk with them while we are having a coke.

And, what’s your opinion?

María