Mind the Gap: A Message for Generation X Teachers of Millennial Students

As I did the research for a recent presentation, I noticed that employers everywhere are writing and thinking about the generation gap and how that is affecting employees and productivity. It’s another way to look at our changing demographics as our employees, err, students get stranger and stranger to us. Hopefully my research can help you go, "Oh."

Find out how Millennial you are here

	Gen Xers	Millennials
	Born 1965-1980	Born 1980-2000
	Other name: MTV Generation	Other names: Gen-Y- Gen Next
	Shaped by: dot com boom, end of the Cold War, the AIDS epidemic, the War on Drugs, Challenger explosion, job uncertainty, latchkey kids	The “Babies on Board”, raised in the most child-centric time in history, everybody wins
	Perceptions: Savvy entrepreneurs who are self-reliant	Perceptions: Confident, connected, open to change (Pew Foundation)
	Pessimistic	Optimistic
	Accept diversity	Celebrate diversity
	Distrust Leadership	Leaders irrelevant
	Distrust Institutions	Institutions irrelevant
	Reject Rules	Rewrite Rules
	Ambitious	Quality of life more important than money
	Use technology and multitask	Technology is a part of life; multitask faster
	Loners	Team-players
	Expect to be left alone to work at school	Expect structure and teams at school
	Want the teacher to leave them alone	Want a relationship with the teacher
	Email (and Facebook and Twitter)	Facebook/Twitter (or other “activity streams”)
		Want work to be part of a higher purpose
		Not religious
		Liberal
		Zero tolerance for delays

QR Code Mania Hits Education

If you're not sure what a QR Code is, check out this helpful YouTube Video, then I hope you’ll view this very short video showing how to make QR codes and a couple of things to do with them related to education.
QR Codes are everywhere I look lately; and every educator I meet wants to talk about them and their educational applications. Here are some great ideas developed by a Conroe ISD team of teachers and administrators:

1. Open House: Gets parents to forms they need to fill out by making QR code links to Google forms. Also, use QR codes to share teacher contact information. When parents scan, they capture the teacher’s data, web address, etc. and have it in their phone’s history.
2. Direct students to anchor activities or to differentiated assignments based on code. QR codes let us keep assignments private. Teachers can color code QR codes so that students do not know what other students’ assignments are.
3. Make paper (or other) materials interactive using QR Codes. Example: tape/glue QR codes in books, on posters, etc. with links to get more content/videos, etc. Example: Studying Benjamin Franklin, scan this QR code for a video link. Can this code to participate in a poll about this topic (link to a Poll Everywhere that can be accessed on a mobile device).

Here is a link to an editable Google Doc with all our best links and greatest ideas about how to use QR codes in education. Please feel free to add to the document if you feel so inclined.

I used QR codes pretty extensively in this Prezi for a writer’s institute workshop recently. I think I’m g

oing to embed them in each presentation I do. People seem to really love the interactivity this sort of thing provides.

Sources you shouldn’t miss:
Cool Cat Teacher’s Guide to QR Codes
Google Presentation: 40 Interesting Ways to use QR Codes in the Classroom

A few good QR Code Creators:

• http://goo.gl/ See how to use it in the video
• http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/ Watch the times it adds to meetings though; we haven’t been able to make them come out right so far. Otherwise, great tool!
• http://www.qrstuff.com/ Makes colored QR Codes

How can students read them? We can collect "old" iPhones, ask for iPod Touches with Cameras at Donorschoose.org, ask parents to buy students smart phones for educational use. Beg. Borrow. Don't steal though. That's still wrong :-) But at least if it's in the name of getting your kids a good education, the jury will probably go easy on you. You can also read QR codes with a webcam using this software. Remember: We humans are social animals and we work and learn better in groups, so there's no need to have one device per student. Don't believe me? Listen to this TED Talk and see how powerful learning in groups can be even without a teacher!

Hey, if you're still reading, you're my friend. Awww. Thanks! That means you might care that I created my SpeakerSite recently. Check it out! Did you know that Ryan Carmichael and I recently started our new company FriedDesigns? No you didn't! Check out the beginnings of our site! and let us know if you need any designs.