Findings/Assertions
Assertion 1 (observation): A constructivist classroom environment invited critical thinking, creative solutions, and collaboration among all participants. Working collaboratively with all participants helped make all of us better learners and better teachers. Because assignments were created to be individually meaningful for students, each student needed to approach assignments critically and creatively, so as to best meet personal goals. The five classroom practices or learning principles that most helped build a viable, interactive, and critically thoughtful learning community included:
- peer review of all assignments;
- broad audiences of all assignments, as most assignments are posted on students’ Web sites;
- celebration of mistakes as learning opportunities;
- the belief that collaboration builds community; and
- the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (i.e. each person’s contribution adds to the richness and depth of classroom discussions, interactions, and thought).
When the university professor was stumped by a student question, she never hesitated to call on the collective expertise of everyone in the room – graduate students, graduate interns, and Gen Y students - as she considered everyone co-learners working together to make sense of how multimedia allowed each of us to communicate with others in novel, creative, and unique ways.
Assertion 2 (observation): Technology was the tool that enhanced teaching and learning in this constructivist classroom, not the focus of the learning. Technology was used extensively in the middle school language arts curriculum of the Gen Y students, who continue to be motivated learners and continue to incorporate technology into their learning. Technology was used extensively in the graduate course, and graduate students became motivated and engaged in the learning process because they saw the potential of technology to:
- alter the teacher-learning relationship;
- create a collaborative and learner-centered environment;
- engage students more actively, personally, and purposefully in the learning process;
- engage learners in authentic tasks, experiences, and assessments;
- engage students in problem-based, hands-on, and real-world learning; and
- move students from the role of information consumers to information producers.
Not only did technology change the nature of learning in both middle school and graduate classrooms, but students also chose their own tools of discovery and the media with which they wanted to share their learning.
Assertion 3 (observation and Gen Y focus group): Gen Y students were capable of mentoring practicing teachers, and most practicing teachers responded positively to such mentoring. Although hesitant at first to offer help to graduate students significantly older than themselves, Gen Y students soon realized they had the skills to help and that most graduate students often needed and wanted help. K-12 teachers acknowledged that kids often know more about using technology than they do.
Assertion 4: Gen Y students felt that using technology comes naturally to them, and practicing teachers generally felt either intimidated by technology or that learning to use technology was a long and difficult process. Since the Gen Y students had been using technology both at home and at school for most of their lives, they not only considered using technology as an integral part of their lives, but they also often experimented with how to use technology tools in novel and creative ways. Most K-12 teachers, on the other hand, felt the need for direct instruction and support when learning to use technology.
Assertion 5: Gen Y students learned by exploring and playing and making mistakes, and K-12 teachers generally preferred to learn using concrete, step-by-step directions. Gen Y students preferred “messing around” and learning by doing. They believed mistakes helped them learn and were excited when a mistake resulted in a new discovery. Conversely, the K-12 teachers, tried to avoid making mistakes and were often terrified that their mistakes would have dire consequences. Generally, they preferred step-by-step instruction and had little interest in learning the multiple ways to perform any specific computer operation. The following Gen Y student comments support and illustrate this assertion:
- [Practicing teachers] think that things with iMovie™ or other technology can be done in only one way.
- The grad students think differently than we do. They don’t like to make mistakes. They want it perfect the first time. They should see the cool stuff we’ve done that started as a mistake.
Assertion 6: Gen Y students and practicing teachers were respectful of each other, individually and collectively. Gen Y students and practicing teachers were initially polite to each other, but soon came to respect each other because of the expertise that each group brought to the learning situation. The following focus group comments support and illustrate this assertion:
- Graduate Student: I didn’t think for a moment that [the high school students] would treat me like I didn’t know anything, although I didn’t really know much. They were truly there to help out and be supportive.
- Gen Y Student: I basically helped [a graduate student] make her iMovie™ exactly how she wanted it.
Assertion 7: Gen Y students learned to give help in meaningful ways, and practicing teachers learned to ask for the specific type of help they needed. Practicing teachers often didn’t know how to ask for the specific kind of help they needed. Many would just cry “Help” or say something like “I’m stuck, you fix it”! Over time, Gen Y students learned to interpret non-specific cries for help, and practicing teachers learned to provide context and identify more specifically what the problem was and the type of help graduate students sought. The following Gen Y student comments support and illustrate this assertion:
- I got to know which teachers really needed a helping hand and which ones just had technical questions.
- After a while I learned how the teachers thought, and I could sense when they needed help.
Assertion 8: The graduate students/K-12 teachers grew appreciative of and valued the Gen Y students and the scaffolding they were able to provide. K-12 teachers commented that the “kids” were patient, accessible, friendly, refreshing to work with, positive, receptive, and enjoyable. The following graduate student comments support and illustrate this assertion:
- [The Gen Y students] felt very valued and worthwhile because they could help us; I definitely valued them.
- I was impressed with how much of their knowledge they were willing to share. Nothing was protected; they were just there for us.
- We grew to trust them.
- We learned that the kids could help us even though they’re younger, much younger, than we are.
- I loved the one-on-one instruction and problem-solving strategies I learned from [a Gen Y student].
Assertion 9: Gen Y students gained self-confidence. Gen Y students were, at first, shy and reticent to approach a teacher unless asked. Over time, they became more confident in their abilities to help with the wide variety of questions graduate students asked. Even more importantly, they soon learned to provide unsolicited guidance and help to those graduate students who needed scaffolding. The following Gen Y student comments illustrate this assertion:
- I learned adults were willing to listen to what I had to say.
- My attitude toward adults is now more open, more confident.
- My self-confidence has improved because of this experience.
Assertion 10: Scaffolding graduate students’ learning through collaboration with Gen Y students benefits all participants. The modified Gen Y model used within the graduate multimedia class provided a win-win-win situation. The Gen Y students, the graduate students who were practicing teachers, and the university professor all benefited from this project.
Helping others learn and grow has motivated the Gen Y students to volunteer in a graduate classroom for five successive summers. Additionally, they have increased their self-confidence; felt valued for their expertise; felt valued for their willingness to help; become more comfortable around teachers; are more willing to offer help to their high school teachers; are much more familiar with university life; and have had a five-year experience interning in a university classroom. Finally, they have honed their technology skills; kept current with emerging multimedia software and hardware; and experimented with numerous ways of using technology to reach personal goals. Through these experiences, they have learned a great deal about themselves and their interpersonal skills; widened their future career options; and become published authors and presenters at international conferences. The Gen Y students conclude that without the opportunities they experienced during their middle and high school years participating in this multi-year project, many of the things they enjoy doing today would be dreams rather than realities. They characterize their total experience as “a chance in a lifetime.”
Graduate students enrolled in an intensive multimedia class felt their individual needs were met despite the large class size; received help when and as they considered necessary; experienced the Gen Y Model; and are now willing to use the Gen Y Model in their classrooms, as the following quotes attest:
- I’m going to ask my own students to assist me in redesigning lessons using technology.
- I’m going to use technology mentors in my classroom in the fall.
- I am now more willing to think of my students as content experts and technology experts.
Graduate students also experienced the Zone of Proximal Development and the joy of learning from a “more experienced junior peer.” Several typical comments are listed below:
- They coached instead of doing the work for me.
- They asked questions that deepened my own understanding of what I was doing.
- They checked back with me to see that I was advancing on my own.
- We brainstormed and solved problems together, working collaboratively on solving the problems.
- [The Gen Y students] were attentive, creative, hard working, personable, and a lot of fun to interact with.
- [The Gen Y students] enabled me to be successful and reduced my frustration level.
- They were not condescending in any way, which made me feel comfortable in asking them for help.
- They knew little tricks that helped make things easier.
- Their enthusiasm was motivating for me.
In addition, graduate students expressed very high satisfaction with the nurturing, supportive classroom environment; the sense of community that developed during the course; their interactions with the professor; and especially their interactions with Gen Y students.
Finally, the university professor received assistance with a popular, over-enrolled graduate class; could accommodate a variety of learning styles; offered an improved quality of learning and classroom environment; offered a constructivist classroom featuring personalized and contextualized learning; and had the opportunity to use and study a modified Gen Y or reverse mentoring model at the graduate level.
