Educational Technology Research
Welcome Back!
WOW! Thank goodness tomorrow is Fri-YAY. I hope your week is going well. I am exhausted and this week has felt like a month. I tutor at my school district and it began this week. Let's just say that extra hour has pros and cons. I love being able to spend more time with the 3rd grade students and pre-teach/ re-teach material so they can become more confident in their work at school. I also love getting to know this small group of students better and build positive relationships with them! However, it is mentally draining to prep that material and prep for my normal day of teaching. I feel behind this week in grading and planning. Okay... enough about my week lets dive into this weeks topic of educational technology research!
McCrindle Research
To begin, I have been reading on many statistics through a social research company based in Australia. The McCrindle website has many great articles to read through over the different generations and how technology is used. The goal of the platform is to "understand your world", "know the way", and "shape the future". As an educator, those three short phrases mean A LOT to me! I am constantly trying to make the best decisions using data to shape my classroom and my students. I really enjoyed reading "better decisions today make a better tomorrow". I 100% agree with that statement on the website. An article I found interesting on the McCindle website was "The Changing Age of Self-learning". The article expresses that many social media platforms nowadays are not only used for entertainment, but also for educational purposes! As a fellow Gen Z, I can second this as I use social media to both advantages. YouTube is used daily in my classroom for learning purposes. The visuals and engaging videos really catch my students attention to gain new knowledge and follow up with discussions to prompt learning.
Gen Z to Gen Alpha
As a Gen Z educator, I believe I am usually familiar with the new technology and social media. However, it blows my mind that my younger brother is considered a Gen Z. We are nine years apart and he's in eighth grade. Some of the social media he talks about, I feel old and have zero clue what it is! He barely made the Gen Z cut off as he was born in 2009. Christina Sterbenz wrote an article about the next generation that was born in 2010 or after. This article is a great read about the upcoming Generation Alpha. The statement I found most interesting was "Alpha kids will grow up with iPads in hand, never live without a smartphone, and have the ability to transfer a thought online in seconds. These massive technological changes among other, make Generation Alpha the most transformative generation ever, according to McCrindle." This statement is mind blowing to think about. My third grade students are apart of this generation. This following picture analyzes the technology from a Gen Z perspective to a Gen Alpha perspective. I found it very fascinating to see the differences between myself and my current students.
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| Photo Source: McCrindle Research Center |
More Research:
I was really looking forward to researching and viewing reports from the website Project Tomorrow's Speak Up. However, the website is down, but I have bookmarked it so hopefully when it is back up and running I can check out more statistics on technology in education. However, after reading I found many technology stats on the website Common Sense Media. One I found interesting was over the media use in tweens and teens and how they have grown much faster after the pandemic hit. I do not find that shocking because many schools moved to E-learning days to ensure students were learning during this time. However, after looking at the stats and reading, I have more questions. This research was completed in 2021. The stats shared that this increase of technology in two years was much more than seen in the prior four years. I would like to see stats on 2023 soon and see how much they have increased from 2021. I believe the media use is even greater just in this year alone! I also question if this higher use of media would have taken place if the pandemic wouldn't have hit. Check out the stats below for media use in tweens and teens.
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| Photo Source: Common Sense Media |
I laughed when I read about how you and your brother are both considered Gen Z but the gap is so wide. I've read how there is even different "language/slang" that is used by both inter-generational groups!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Project Tomorrow site is working. They have some great reports here: https://www.tomorrow.org/publications/speak-up-data-findings/
Hi Mayci!
ReplyDeleteI TOTALLY relate to you! My sister is also in 8th grade, and we are both considered Gen Z. We're at two opposite ends, and I sometimes feel like she is explaining things to me (which makes me feel way older than 25). My students are in 4th grade, so the McCrindle infographic was incredibly fascinating for me to read. It's eye-opening!
Colleen
There is no doubt that the pandemic expedited our use of technology out of necessity. I am also curious to see how the statistics look on technology use for this year, and I am interested to see where we go in the next few years.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think about the polar ends of generations. Nicole commented on the changes in language/slang within a generation. I'm Gen Z but barely, whereas my younger brother is 20. He uses language that is far different from the slang I heard in college. What clear differences in language have you noticed between you and your brother?