What are Millennial Kids? Can we really define them with one statement? Probably not, and that is why we have graphic tools like Webspiration to help us look at complex, undefined concepts.
Here is a look at how three current and future educators structured our ideas about Millennial Kids: Webspiration Graphic Organizer
Only one of the terms in the first row seems any dfiferent than students a decade ago. Multitasking, Social, and Phones, as terms defining Millennial Kids, also seem to define students who grew up in the 90's. The term that is different, and the term in the first row that really defines Millennial Kids, is Broadcaster.
Broadcast - To transmit for public or general use. To make known over a wide area.
Wow. What could we use to broadcast these days? Television and radio were the old methods of broadcasting, and those were not available for public use. Even in the 90’s, with the Internet starting to hit full swing, the methods of broadcasting were dispersed and very cliquey. Facebook though, now there is a place where any message you share can be seen by hundreds or thousands of people! Middle and high school students have hundreds or thousands of “friends” who are updated when they post that they are in a relationship, that they’re doing their homework, or that they’re just feeling bored. Now that’s broadcasting!
Broadcasting must fulfill some need. Perhaps they fulfill a need to be connected and accepted by your community. What better way to find a community willing to accept you then by posting your opinions and thoughts online? Millennial kids can cast a wide net over hundreds of friends to find who connects with their latest post. This does sound much more efficient than meeting people one at a time to discuss ideas with.
Building on the broadcasting students can do with Facebook, twitter, and blogs, students stay connected in increasingly more ways – texts, blackberry messenger, instant messaging, Skype, etc. This second row of concepts in the Webspiration offer a second look at the connections that Millennial kids make. While not broadcasting, they are small, constant communications. Do they make up for fewer opportunities for face-to-face interactions? Many people from older generations would say no, but can we judge? We’ll have to wait for further information to find out.
Colin,
ReplyDeleteI like your use of the term "broadcaster" to frame the emerging youth culture. We're seeing a lot of literal youth broadcasting from the Arab world this past month, what a potent example of how the world is changing! I wonder about the social implications of this always-on broadcasting, are sharing ourselves or fooling our friends? If you looked at my facebook page for example its nothing but clever comments and pictures of good times, not a hint of frustration or anxiety. To steal a line from David Byrne "I’m just an advertisement
for a version of myself"
I hope the boxes and arrows of webspiration helped you understand the issue. In the end I stopped adding things because it was making my head spin!