This document discusses strategies for teaching Generation Y students. Generation Y students grew up with access to technology and prefer visual and hands-on learning over traditional textbook methods. They expect immediate feedback and are more engaged by topics they find interesting or meaningful. Teachers need to incorporate more technology, group work, visual aids, and real-world applications into their lessons in order to effectively teach Generation Y students.

1. Teaching Generation Y
What A Difference!

2. What is a Gen Y’er?
Generally, a Gen Y was born and raised
beginning in the last 2 decades of the
twentieth century. They have been
described as digital natives in some
literature. They have grown up with access
to the internet, cellphones, texting, email
and instant messaging.

3. Gen Y’ers prefer to multitask
rather than focus on one thing at a
time, and they can be more attracted
to the ideas of a peer or a web video
than what their teachers have to offer.

4. Because Gen Y’s members are
young, it is fair to say that most English
as a Second/Foreign Language
(ESL/EFL) learners belong to this
group, making it worthy of teachers’
attention and understanding.

5. Gen Y attributes
Its members are identified as confident
and technologically advanced, and they
come with a sense of entitlement.

6. Gen Y in the workplace
When seeking a job, often it is asked:
“What can this company do for me?” Another difference is
that Gen Y values comfort at work more than previous
generations have. Important Reasons for joining a
company are “comfortable office atmosphere” and
“flexible work schedule,” respectively (Linquist 2008).

7. Ideal Gen Y workplace

8. Gen Y challenges
Educators have discussed the nature
of Gen Y and the challenges that they bring
to the classroom. Evidently, the “old way”
of schooling, namely the teacher as “sage
on the stage,” is not effective with Gen Y
(Skiba 2008).

9. Teachers must adapt!
Experienced teachers who have been
around a while know that the values todays
students hold are not congruent with
traditional course content and methods.
Therefore, teacher effectiveness depends
on the ability to adapt instruction to the
needs of today’s learners.

10. Gen Y’ers are TECH-SAVVY
The most salient characteristic of this
generation is its comfort with technology.
Those of us that came before them are
contrasted to them as digital immigrants,
those of us who remember a world prior to
PCs, cell phones, and video games.

11. Gen Y Expectations
Information technology is an integral part
of their lives. Today’s learners are
experienced with tools such as wikis, blogs,
and chat rooms, but more importantly,
they believe that these tools can benefit
their learning in school.

12. Different learning expectations!
This generation seeks immediate
information and understanding from the
web and videos, not by looking through a
textbook.

13. Teaching strategies for TechSavvy students
ELT professionals have identified many
useful ways to bring new technology into the
classroom, including creating wikis; using
WebQuests; implementing video-based
activities through sites such as YouTube.

14. Technology use in class….
An essential question
for teachers about classroom behavior has
evolved from “How can I keep my students
from using electronic devices in class?” to
“How can I use e-tools to get and keep my
students motivated?”

15. Limit electronic device use!
While Gen Y students feel that they can
multi-task anywhere, a teacher must limit
the use of personal electronic devices in
the classroom. Negociate when and under
what circumstances they may be used.

16. A balanced work and personal life
Gen Y’ers saw their parents work hard and
sacrifice only to be down-sized or laid-off
when economic times got tough. They are not
willing to make the same sacrifices that their
parents did. Their life experience has been
different. Today’s students are not the ones
that our educational institutions were
designed for.

17. Teaching strategies to balance
personal and work lives
First, teachers need to stop resenting
students’ apparent lackadaisical attitude
and get on with the task of learning how to
engage them. In other words, teachers and
schools need to understand the nature of
this generation.

18. Gen Y- kniesthetic and visual learners
Students prefer kinesthetic and visual
learning activities over traditional teachercentered and text-based tasks.
To increase motivation to learn, we need
to get students moving and include visuals
in course work.

19. Visual and kninesthetic interest.
Use PowerPoint presentations, YouTube
videos, and student-made posters and
drawings to increase the visual nature of
classes. Use concentric (student) circles to
exchange information, “Find Someone
Who…” tasks, and rallies to get students
out of their seats.

20. Action Activity!
Dedicate ten to twelve minutes each week
to a song. A different student selects the
song each week and prepares a cloze
handout for the class. The student pauses
the song, checking that all students have
heard correctly.

21. Gen Y is Feedback Dependent
Gen Y has received significant doses of
feedback from many sources throughout
their lives. It started with parents who
helped them plan their achievements, took
part in their activities, and showed strong
beliefs in their child’s worth.

22. Gen Y is themost child-centered
Gen Y the most child-centered generation
in history. When they attended after-school
activities, teachers and coaches offered
them a humanistic, empowering learning
environment.

23. Gen Y and Immediate Feed-back
At the same time, frequent instant messages
and hours spent in chat rooms have made
today’s students sensitive to peers’ opinions.
Perhaps the most intense feedback has come
from video games and the Internet, which
offer immediate results.

24. Teaching Feed-back dependent Learners
Teachers need to explicitly express what
students need to do to learn better. Gen Y
does not respond to reprimand. Instead, this
generation prefers sincere concern on the part
of teachers, who can provide this in the form
of non-blameful Instant-messages to the whole
group or to an individual.

25. Teaching Feed-back dependent Learners
Error correction - we need to keep in mind
that the more we encourage learners to
discover their own mistakes and those of
peers, the more active they are in the learning
process and, therefore, the more appropriate
the process is for Gen Y.

26. Gen Y’s bias for entertainment and games
Given the emergence in higher education of the net
generation, which was raised on video games, we should
begin to explore the new world of educational gaming.
The Federation of American Scientists (2006) has
illustrated the value of educational gaming by identifying
attributes that contribute to learning, such as the
provision of clearly defined goals, ample practice
opportunities, continuous feedback, and scaffolding.
What teacher would not want to offer these elements to
his/her learners?

27. Strategies for including games
Teachers, who are more time-conscious than their Gen Y
students, should try to view games as tools of engagement
and negotiation: “Sure we can play a game, but first I’d
like you to work with a partner to do the activity that I
am going to explain now”. Because Gen Y grew up in a
child-centered world, they are accustomed to getting
what they want, when they want it. Oftentimes, they are
not willing to conform to organizational rules because
they view the rules as ineffective.

28. Gen Y and customized tasks!
Gen X and Baby Boomers’ tendency to have face-to-face
meetings is viewed as a huge waste of time. Gen Y prefers
flexibility in how they do their work, with frequent
texting and emails to report on their progress. Technology
allows learners to more readily advance at their own pace
and receive feedback, as well as demonstrate that they
have mastered the material.

29. Gen Y seeks purpose and passion!
Gen Y has been told by parents, teachers, and coaches
that they can do or be anything they want to. They are
confident because they do not fear change, but welcome
it. Thus, they have set their sights high, and one aim
is to make a difference in the world.

30. Teaching for purpose and passion!
Textbooks commonly include at least one unit on saving the planet (e.g.,
tropical forests) and social issues (e.g.,
poverty). Gen Y finds these topics interesting and worthy of study. Teachers
can extend these units by having students investigate a related topic and
present what they discover in the form of PowerPoint presentations, posters,
and role plays.

31. Teacher’s Roles!
Teachers need to adopt more technology based tasks,
include visual content, and provide the opportunity to be
physically active in the classroom. If students are not
given ample opportunities to practice and receive
feedback, then the classroom experience wanes
in comparison with learners’ personal lives. The digital
society does not stop at the classroom door!

32. Conclusion!
Students’ needs relate to their customized, digitalized,
and visual lives; their attitude toward rules, and effort;
feedback-dependence; reduced interest in reading; and
their desire to make a difference. Mindful of these
characteristics, English teachers need to do two things:
(1) pursue an understanding of the nature of Gen Y and
(2) adopt teaching strategies that respond to
their academic needs.

33. This presentation was derived from an article by:
Peter Reilly, English teacher at
Universidad Panamericana, Campus
Bonaterra, and heoperates a language
institute in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/50_1_3_reilly.pdf