Baby Boomer Brain -- Millennial Brain

Sunday, 02-13-2011

This week I tuned in to one of our optional synchronous teacher office hours. I am so happy that I did because during the session Dr. Bert answered questions, and also helped our group to clarify and move our proposal forward.

When Dr. Bert said the magic words "think of this as creating a draft" then I suddenly understood that the assignment was not about the end product but about exploring and the process.

I cannot help but reflect that many of my generation, the baby boomer generation, were brought up to produce products. After all that was was the post-war industrial revolution was all about: create efficiencies, machines taking the place of manpower, etc. I think the baby boomer brain was essentially wired to be product-oriented the same way I am seeing net-generation millennial brains being process-oriented.

For example, last semester I read a research study in which a firm that makes military satellites was asked to change the way it does business. The old guard who prided themselves on over-designing and making things last for 1o0 years even if the specifications called for the satellite to only last 30 years were resisting attempts by the the government who wanted quicker turnaround and less expensive satellites that really did only last 15 years. They wanted to speed up the process of getting things designed and up into space. But the old guard engineers said that doing anything less was demeaning to them and not "the American way."

That is why I am so thankful to be in the PhD program. I am trying very hard to re-wire my brain so that I keep the good parts of my baby boomer brain but also re-wire part of my brain to be a net-generation brain.

How does this fit into the "Emerging Technologies for Learning" theme of our class? Well, although many of us will be retiring in the next 10-15 years, it is still 10-15 years. How do we as educators find relevance in all that is emerging and harness it for learning? How do we teach the kids in our classrooms and libraries that it is okay to explore and try new things and to fail and also march to standards and outcomes for accreditors? This is the same question I asked at the very beginning of class. I think there is not a very neat answer. Rather we struggle to define what we mean by emerging technologies and how to best use them by dialoging, communicating, and yes, perhaps, even arguing.

Wish me luck! Kim