The World Had Better Be Preparing Now For Gen Z!

The generation that follows the millennials about to hit college age

  by Mary Scott Nabers

There have been thousands of stories written about millennials – how they work, what they expect from life, where they prefer to live, how unconcerned they are about owning a car and why they move from job to job. We all know a lot about millennials because we’ve almost studied them to death.

But now there’s another generation upon us and we are, without doubt, behind the curve on preparing for these young men and women. Gen Z is what they are called and they are the individuals who were born in or after 1999. This group is just approaching college age. The word is that we had all better be ready for them because they are definitely not going to be the norm.

Barnes and Noble College, a unit of the nationwide bookseller that partners with colleges and university bookstores, conducted a survey with the objective of understanding the attitudes, preferences, expectations and learning habits of Generation Z. The survey was intended to provide insight into the country’s students, workers, taxpayers, and political leaders of the future.

The survey’s results indicate that the group is more independent than previous generations and that they are true digital natives. Millennials may have adopted all manner of technology, but members of Gen Z embrace technology in all of its forms. Digital screens are their comfort zones, and technology is their teacher. Everything in their lives revolves around technology, and most of the people in their lives will be forced to compete with technology.

Gen Zs do not distinguish between digital experiences. They use at least five different types of devices on a daily basis to communicate, learn and entertain themselves. They own laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, video game consoles, smart watches and digital health devices. They use apps of every type and access the Internet on an hourly basis.

They want their lessons to be interactive and they learn by doing. Gen Zs are not fond of lectures or of reading massive amounts of material. They have short attention spans and they like action.

Collaboration is important – 80 percent of them study with friends and classmates. But, they don’t differentiate between in-person contact and online collaboration. Technology platforms like Skype, Facetime, instant messaging and Facebook are used frequently for group studying online. Gen Z learning is one continuous, multifaceted, completely integrated experience – connecting social, academic and individual interests.

While these students have grown up with traditional, hardbound textbooks in their classrooms, they expect educational technology, or Ed-tech, to be an integrated part of their education. At least 80 percent of survey respondents said they value the following technologies in their learning environment: Smartboard (84 percent), digital textbooks (81 percent), websites with study materials (81 percent) and online videos on YouTube (80 percent). Textbooks ranked seventh at 77 percent, just barely above social media at 74 percent.

Clearly, members of Gen Z have high expectations for schools. Are the institutions ready for them? Dollars spent won’t necessarily determine quality education for Gen Zs. But, when it comes to providing technology for students who will demand it, money will obviously be a necessity.

Another 2015 report, by the research firm IDC Government Insights, found that California finished at the very top of technology spending for education with a total of $2.3 billion, nearly doubling the amount Texas spent on educational technology.

There is no doubt – public schools and colleges will face lots of challenges when it comes to Gen Z students. Employers will fall into the same category. Politicians and public officials should start thinking now about how this group of taxpayers will respond to government services, access to information, transportation requirements, water resources, health care, and transparency in every aspect.

It will be interesting to watch the changes that are bound to occur – and occur rather quickly, because this generation will not have the patience or the tolerance of its predecessors. 

This article originally published by Strategic Partnerships Inc.