Philippine E-Journals

Understanding the Digital Youth: Implications to Higher Education

Antoniette Z. Lacerna

 

Abstract:

A new generation of learners has entered college which has different expectations from those of past generations. They are said to be confident, self-assured, sheltered, team-oriented, and technologically savvy. Te millennial student's pattern of behavior, perception, perceived values, outlook, priorities and learning styles are indirectly
or directly influenced by different variables such as political, economic, socio-cultural and technological. This generation arrived in the era of globalization which combines a remarkable convergence of patterns of global interconnectedness, alongside institutionalization through new global and regional infrastructures of collaboration and communication, from the WTO to APEC, necessitating higher education institutions to deal with the two-fold challenge of providing students with the new knowledge, skills and values needed to be competitive in a global market while at the same time producing graduates who are responsible adults, good citizens both of their country and of the world. With these various challenges brought by the changing environment, educational institutions, most especially teachers need to determine and better understand the "millennial student" to make learning more relevant and meaningful. Implications to higher education particularly to curriculum development and instruction considering the millennial identity, their behaviors, technology perception, priorities, perceived values, outlook and learning styles were comprehensively discussed in the study.