What About the Future?
And what about the future? Technology has changed the way that we learn and interact with the world, and not just for Millennials. Moore's Law declares that all technology doubles every two years.
So, what about the future? The Digital Era has changed not only how we use and think, but how we teach and learn, as well. This will have lasting effects on the generations that come after us.
In the past decade, it’s become abundantly clearthat Millennials will be a powerful generation of workers and that those with the right skills will be in high demand. They may be able to command not only reactive reward packages by today’s standards, but also influence the way that they work.
Millennial’s use of technology clearly sets them apart, and largely because of their affinity with the very digital world that usually gets them so much ire. They have grown up watching the world jump from the first cellphones to smart phones that are more powerful than some computers, video cameras, and organizational tools all combined into something that they can fit in their pocket.
Adapting Education
The Internet, for better or for worse, is now a major part of even simple daily tasks. Going forward, our lives have been forever changed, even if it means having to teach future generations in a different way. How do you teach a child about the internet? What about internet use warnings, or inclusion of tablets as education tools, or teaching them social etiquette online?
In some schools, Teachers are beginning to use the world building game Minecraft to teach coding, cooperation, and advanced problem solving to their students. Minecraft is often described as "Minecraft is the best-selling computer game of all time" (The Atlantic). It has over 18 million concurrent users across several different platforms, including XBox, Playstation, iOS, and Personal Computer. "First played an early version of Minecraft with his 5-year-old daughter in 2010. He was amazed at how much his daughter was learning from Minecraft; she solved problems on her own, developed a spatial understanding in the game, and accelerated her reading and writing skills because she wanted to be able to interact with other players" (The Atlantic).
"'Are we going to treat our class’ Minecraft world as an extension of our classroom? Do the rules that apply in the school building also apply on our Minecraft server? What happens if someone breaks those rules?' These were lessons in what Levin calls digital citizenship, which were typically being taught in middle school, once students were already deeply embedded in social networks, but not yet in elementary school when they were just starting to use them and the lessons would be most useful" (The Atlantic).
"Video games can increase students’ spatial knowledge, improving their aptitude for math and science. And video games can help give students the hard skills they will need to function in a digital world, such as physical dexterity with keyboards and touch screens, an understanding of algorithms and search engines, and even basic programming" (The Atlantic).
Using video games as an educational tool is not a new development, with games like the The Oregon Trail and Mavis Beacon being used since the early 1980s. And yet they are starting to have remarkable results because the learning environment mimics an environment that the students are already accustomed to. And because many school districts are incorporating tablets into their daily mediums, these students are learning skills that many people in the workforce had to learn much later in life. Like the Millennial generation now, they will have complicated skills in their repertoire simply because of repetition and familiarity.
Adapting the Workplace
And yet, skills that many businesses consider 'extra' or complex come naturally to younger generations simply because of more integration into their daily lives. Social Media in particular is an excellent example, with most people new to the workforce claiming that they have an intimate knowledge to this end.
And like it or not, approximately 40% of all networking and advertising now happens through social media in one way or another. People who use social networks store various information about themselves including their age, gender, interests, and location. This stored information allows advertisers to create specific target groups and individualize their advertisements. The advantage for advertisers is that these ads can reach people who are interested in the product or service.
Prepping for the Future
The bottom line is this: Millennials fill a rapidly widening hole in the workforce. In the next decade the remaining majority of the Boomers will retire if they haven't already, making way for younger generations in much-needed venues. Millennials will help businesses adapt to newer business strategies and practices. In turn, Millennials will help pave the way for even younger generations.
And despite the constant defamation of Millennials, they are in a constant state of learning and motion, much like the technological landscape they grew up in. It's been described as the 'generation of nostalgia', because Millennials are the generation that bridged the gap, or at least saw the gap get crossed. Their first phones were bricks and their first computers had their own rooms. From here, it just continues forward.