Below are 5 characterizations from the article The Most Technologically Advanced Yet by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin that pinpoints how today's "Generation Z", "Generation @" or "iGeneration" cohorts (generally born between 1991-2001) experience the world and what effect this has on how we teach and motivate them.
1. Technology has led students to expect instant results for all things, says Daniel Watts, a computer graphic arts teacher for at-risk youth at Elinor Lincoln Hickey Junior/Senior High School in Sacramento. “I gear my curriculum so students can experience success as quickly as possible. It’s motivation for them to want to learn more and take it to the next level.”
How coaches and teachers can adjust: emphasize the importance on the process and focus on small victories every day. Set them up for success- break complex drills/plays into bite-size chunks so they can experience success early; then, challenge them little by little every day, slowly moving them away from their comfort zone.
2. “They need constant feedback because of the immediacy technology has given them,” agrees Duane Mendoza, a technology resource teacher at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: provide them with a measure of their success every day. For example, 2 years ago I worked out with a great young basketball player getting ready to play for a nationally ranked team in college that fall. One weakness was obvious: the player lacked quickness. The first 20min of our workout was dedicated to improving quickness with line-jumps, defensive slides, and sprints, as well as other basic basketball drills like Mikan layups, x-outs, ball handling, etc. I bought a handheld clicker-counter (I think it's used for baseball) and tallied each repetition in a specified time frame (example: how many right foot line-jumps in 30 seconds? How many slides, x-outs or Mikans in 45 seconds?). As the weeks went on, I charted and graphed the player's progress. I gave them a visual graph showing each workout and the time/number of reps in each drill, and the player could see their improvement day by day!
3. Every generation, for better or for worse, has a set of characteristics that define them. For Gen Z, the dominant trait is that they are masters of multitasking and can talk, text, listen to music and look up information on the Web without missing a beat.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: if you are talking, and one of your players is chewing their nails and not making eye contact, are they being disrespectful? Are they not listening? It seems like this multi-tasking may actually help them focus on what you are saying!
4. Some mental health experts believe that a constant stream of electronic information is causing a form of technology-induced attention deficit disorder. John Raley, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, uses the term “acquired attention deficit disorder” and says that technology is rewiring the modern brain.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: Drills (for coaches) or lesson plans (for teachers) should be quick, concise, packed with information and have a clearly defined time limit. On the practice court, instead of reviewing 25 minutes of zone defense, it is probably beneficial to break that into 9-10min segments throughout practice.
5. Elias Aboujaude, director of Stanford University’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, has expressed concern that young people are losing the ability to analyze complex information.
“The more we become used to just sound bites and tweets, the less patient we will be with more complex, more meaningful information,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I do think we might lose the ability to analyze things with any depth and nuance.”
How coaches and teachers can adjust: vocal teaching, pre-game talks, half-time adjustments, explaining new ideas and concepts, and teaching something brand new should focus on a few simple points and be communicated clearly and simply (KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid).
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