Filling the Generational Gap

Let’s just sit on this phrase for a second. Generational Gap.
I’ve always found the phrase pretty interesting. It’s something that happens because of time and progress, but it shares the same characteristics with each and every generation. There is always a noticeable gap.

Right now, generational gaps are even more pronounced, and also more beautifully varied than ever before. We are living in a time where seven different generations are working mostly together all at once. Because of this, educators and anthropologists alike have been able to study fascinating trends in human learning and behavior.

Right now, our world changes on a constant basis. Meaning, that our integrated technological and physical world is constantly evolving more rapidly than we can learn how to adjust. Because of this, every new generation is going to have a new understanding and a different perspective on life as compared to the generation before them.

What is a generational gap?
To put it as simply as possible, a generational gap is when we experience a difference in knowledge, wisdom, worldview, and more as compared to the generation before or after us. Usually, these kinds of experiences are determined by years, but that's not always straight on for what actually happens. People will always have different experiences and different understandings of the same thing: That’s just life!

A Perspective on The Perfect Space to Bridge Gaps
Believe it or not, but eCourses are the perfect place to attack different societal gaps and instead create connections between people. For example, take a moment to close your eyes and envision yourself in the following situation:
You’re enrolling into a new workshop to learn a new topic. You've heard of it before but it's not something that you've really dug into until recently. You came across this class when you stumbled upon the topic expert and were intrigued to learn more.

As you enter the room, you look around and realize there’s a lot of people that are not your age.

It doesn't bother you too terribly much, but it does make you uncomfortable enough to want to stay quiet.

As the class begins the first discussion, you begin to realize that you feel disconnected from the conversation.

Take a second to think about what gaps you may be experiencing in this situation.

If you mentally placed yourself as older you may have noticed some of these things that bothered you a little like this:

They are using a lot of terminology that I don't understand. They are using cultural references that I am lost to. On top of that whenever I make a comment, or try to contribute, my analogies don't work. And if my analogies don't work then I have to try and find another way to explain this to other students.

If you mentally placed yourself younger, then this might be what you're experiencing:

Everything is so unfamiliar in this class, I'm trying to really understand this information. It's hard for me to get engaged because I can't see the connections between whatever they used and what I have in front of me.

On top of that everyone keeps talking about topics that I don't understand and that I haven’t heard of yet. Am I in the wrong class? Do I need to study more?

Keep in mind that these are generalizations, but they are generalizations that hold true for quite a few situations. Because of that we use a lot of these situations to help us understand how to address each student the best way we can. To help yourself prepare for any student of any age, place yourself in their shoes.

Addressing the similarity

Go back and read the scenario for me again. What did both people feel?

If you noticed, both of them felt out of place. They felt out of touch, and like they weren't heard. This is definitely not how you want your students to feel.

On top of that, in both situations, each student wasn't familiar with the program being used. Unsurprisingly, this is one of the huge connections between generations! Younger generations and older generations alike are not going to be used to the current technology that they're dealing with.

New features are released on a constant basis. Updates come out yearly. And when students can't find that connection that helps them learn the information, like knowing how to use programs they're not going to have the same experience as students who are familiar with the work.

What does this mean for you as an educator?

You must bridge the gap between the generations. That's it! Sounds easy right? *please note the heavy sarcasm*

Here are some ways that you can bridge the gap.

Instead of using extremely current references, I try to stay within about five years or so. That is a great way to make sure you are hitting things that can be familiar to pretty much everyone. This is going to help people connect to what you are saying a little bit more easily.

On top of that, make sure that you have walkthroughs for all of your materials, and also explain the material to the students during a session. Don't just expect them to get all they need from a walkthrough. More than likely, you will still have to answer quite a few questions. But that is part of the learning process!

Looking forward

The generational gap is something that we need to be aware of, but not something that we need to put emphasis on. Often, people connect over the weirdest things. You may find that totally opposite personalities connect over their love of anime. You never know what will connect people.

With that connection, does that mean that the generational gap is a myth?

OK, let's not go that far.

The generational gap exists but with more and more people working to learn new technologies, those gaps are narrowing more and more. To be quite honest, I've seen more adults in their late 50s and 60s understand how to operate a phone better than a child or even pre-teen. On top of that the adult also knows how to use a lot of different technologies!

The newer generations still have a lot to learn. They may have grown up with technology, but it was purely for entertainment. As they get older, we have to remember that they too will also start to take over the world with their own types of technology. This is a beautiful transition between generations. I look forward to seeing my own kids use technology that I never thought could possibly exist. At that point I'll be dealing with my own generational gap!