Generation Tech
Written By Janna Bowman, College Student
“Movement is a medicine for creating change
in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.”
Carolyn Welch, American Figure Skater
Technology evolves so quickly it can be overwhelming, even daunting, among age groups. In contemporary society, technology is a huge part of business and social life, yet there appears to be a division between the usage and comprehension among age groups, particularly Generation X and Generation Y. These generations are using technology very differently and on different frequencies.
Generation X is comprised of anyone born between 1961-1981 (after the baby boom ended). The most recent group is Generation Y, also known as the Net Generation or Millennial Generation, with their increased use of communication technologies. According to a Universal McCann study, American “adults” who form Gen X use 35% less social technology than the younger Gen Y group who are more technologically in tune.
Generation Y has grown up using technology primarily for entertainment and social networking purposes. They text, “tweet”, instant message, Facebook, BBM (Blackberry Messaging), Skype (video conferencing), listen to iPods, play Xbox and use Wi Fi. Gen Y children can figure out new technologies easily and are constantly connected to friends and family through their phones and computers.
As a group, Gen X is highly educated but did not grow up using communication technologies the same way as their children do and they are less enthusiastic about enjoying technologies in the same manner as Y. The Gen X group is geared more towards computers for word processing and emailing capabilities. Marketers target Gen X-ers with advertising tools for Blackberrys and Wi Fis but they also recognize that this generation uses less technology than the one that is following. Though Gen X is buying into a technological world they are not as adept at knowing how to use these technologies as resourcefully as Gen Y.
These differences make me wonder if there is a social and economic cost to their separate approaches. The job market has become reflective of this division in that fear is often exhibited by older people who are not using up-to-date communication techniques.
Educator, Ian J. McCoog, reports in a study on 21st century learning that “technology is a medium through which Gen Y can productively learn in settings because they are assimilated to networking and interacting through digital means in informal settings.” Technology not only serves as a learning tool for this up and coming generation, but it is a tool that captures their imagination and enthusiasm. They are excited by using technology and find staying digitally connected is a comfort as well as a necessity.
In 1995, The U.S. Department of Education conducted a forum during which panelists discussed the importance and advantages of using advanced computing and telecommunications technology to foster learning. It was agreed that technology advances education and should be utilized effectively in as many situations as possible, by people of different age groups. The hope is that there will be a gradual lessening of technological differences between generational usages.
Is there really a need to melt these differences? Society’s generations are not separated from each other. People of all ages are required to interact, work together and communicate effectively. The better generations understand each other, the more productivity increases. Technologically speaking, the generation gap appears less between X and Y than between Gen X and the Baby Boomers before them. But technology changes so rapidly that a wedge has been created between X and Y.
Parents grow annoyed with teens who text at the dinner table and teens do not understand parents who throw a Tom-Tom (GPS System) away in favor of an AAA road map. Rather than being annoyed or dismayed, perhaps it is time for families to discuss their understanding of technology, differences in uses, pros and cons, and emotional factors that create a climate of distrust.
Your sons and daughters might be surprised to discover that the first computer took up an entire room and was used to create the hydrogen bomb. Similarly, you and your friends might be open to having a younger person show you how to receive “tweets” straight from your cell phone from Twitter. If you do not know how, why not learn to text, BBM, Skype, or how to download a video from an iPod or get Internet on a cell phone?
The Baby Boomers, along with Gen X, could teach younger people to appreciate forms of communication that rely less on shortened sentences and abbreviated words. They could help them learn to be alone without needing to have constant contact through a cell phone.
A teenager might be encouraged to do something as simple as Google for historical information about early computers. Middle aged workers could bring their knowledge of Skype into their workplace to keep up with changing times. Inter-generational conversations and teaching sessions can take away the fear that older people feel and help make room in their organizations for youth who are so adept at using technology.
A personal example comes to mind. While home for the holidays, my family divided into teams to tackle a game of Trivial Pursuit. Gen X (the older group) served as Team 1 and Gen Y (school aged) served as Team 2. Team 1 answered history and geography questions left and right and it seemed like nothing would stop them from winning. Finally the questions “what new feature do fifth generation iPods have?” surfaced, and Team 1 expressed their disbelief that iPods come in generations. Team 2, however, shouted “video cameras!” and wasted no time in moving on to the next question.
For the tween, teenaged and twenty-somethings of Team 2, technology questions posed no threat. The situation created an opportunity for each team to learn something from the other. The question ended up leading to a fun, informative, and surprising conversation about technology and just how drastically it has changed during the last two generations. My teenage brother pulled out his 5th generation iPod and taught my grandparents how to use it, and they, in turn, explained to my brother what an 8-track was.
Early in 2009, comedian Louis CK poked fun at technology on the Late Show with Conan O’Brien, “Everything is amazing right now and nobody’s happy. Like, in my lifetime, the changes in the world have been incredible. When I was a kid we had a rotary phone. We had a phone you had to stand next to, and you had to DIAL it.”
Tell the closest tween, teenager, or twenty-something that!
Feeling inspired to discover some new tech products? Here are a few things to stretch your childrens’ imaginations. Electronic Dictionary, Text Messengers, Talking Digital camera, iTalk Clock, Camera Binoculars, Language Translator.
