Slide1 : The following is a presentation prepared for NASFAA’s 2007 Conference in Washington, DC July 8-11, 2007
Technology Across Generations: Is E-mail Obsolete? Engaging the "Digital Native" Student and their Parent : Technology Across Generations: Is E-mail Obsolete? Engaging the "Digital Native" Student and their Parent Millennial students and their parents approach their daily lives from a different point of view. Relationships with Millennial’s and their parents have never been stronger. Are we, as educational institutions, immigrating to this new world, or are we still attempting to interact in more traditional ways?
New technologies, (e.g., Chat, Podcasts, Facebook, My Space, Instant Messaging, Blogs) guide how these families approach their lives. Learn about these generational differences and see how some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to their clients.
Slide3 : Moderator:
S. Lynn Fox
Associate Dean of Enrollment &
Director of Financial Aid
University of the Pacific
Presenters:
Steven Todd Bryant
Senior Associate Director Financial Aid
University of Southern California
Francisco Valines
Director of Financial Aid
Florida International University
Slide4 : This is a green presentation
No trees were killed
For a PDF of this presentation, e-mail Steve Bryant at sbryant@usc.edu
What we will cover today: : What we will cover today: Introduction: Millennials are here!
Is E-mail obsolete?
The Generations
Boomers
Gen Xers
Millennials (a.k.a. Nexters, Echo-Boomers, Gen Y)
Technology Across the Generations
How do the generations respond to technology (how does technology alter how they approach their lives)
Parental Expectations & The Parent Factor: Helicopter Parents (Boomer) and Stealth Fighter Parents (Gen Xers)
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students
Millennials are here! : Millennials are here! Wherever you are in university life, you face a choice: You can either ignore this breaking Millennial student wave by treating today’s collegians as you did the last generation or you can embrace the wave and alter how your institution engages these students.
What should a college do to cope with these new students? Should admissions, financial aid, campus-life and the classroom experience be altered?
Two Books You Must Read : Two Books You Must Read Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000) Generations at Work. Denver: Performance Research Associates
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2007) Millennials Go to College, 2nd Edition. New York: Amacom
What do we know Millennials? : What do we know Millennials? In the current decade, college administrators need to adjust their institutions to a new crop of students who are:
Very close to their parents
Focused on grades and performance
Intensely focused on the college admission and financial aid process
Packing their resumes with extracurricular and summer activities
Talented in digital mobile-technologies, capable of multi-tasking and interested in interactive learning
Insistent on secure and regulated environments
Respectful of norms and institutions
Numerous and very intent on going to college
Slide9 : Millennials have no knowledge of what life was like before the digital age.
While earlier generations have had to adjust to new technologies, Millennials are the first post-stone age for whom communication has never centered on a pen or pencil and some type of paper.
From e-mail to text messages to instant messaging, technology has not only changed digital communication, but how the Millennials interact with each other.
Today’s college student engages in intensive digital interaction through blogs, computer and video games, cell phones, and on-line networking tools (social networking). Their parents often complain that technology has isolated too many young people from one another, but Millennials view technology more as a communal networking tool than as an enabler of solitary research and entertainment.
Slide10 : They view e-mail from institutions as SPAM; often ignoring it or forwarding it to their parents.
They spend 10 hours online weekly but consume 20 hours of media daily.
They spend at least 30 minutes on their mobile phone daily and send 6-10 text messages daily. They are defined by technology.
They were born at the keyboard and are perpetually connected.
They are comparable in size to the Baby Boomers. They are expected to reach 100 million in time.
They prefer text messaging and instant messaging over e-mail.
Slide11 : “The 14-24 age group has grown up knowing a world that has been ‘always electronically connected, portable and customizable.’ The technology immersion of the digital Millennials is what is visible from the outside. On the inside, the digital Millennials are breeding a new social order by using technology for ‘sharing, creating and validating via peer networks or social networking’.”
From MySpace-Facebook $200 Billion ‘Digital Millennials’ article on ZdNet (October 11, 2006).
So is E-mail Obsolete? : So is E-mail Obsolete? This is the most technological savvy generation in the history of the world. We, as education institutions, are already moving away from snail mail and paper publications. Should educational institutions do away with e-mail and adopt text messaging, instant messaging, blogs, My Space, Podcasts, etc…?
Are there any other factors we should be examining? Parents? : Are there any other factors we should be examining? Parents? Before we answer the million dollar question, “Is E-mail Obsolete?”, let’s look at the other generations involved.
Let’s define the generations.
Let’s see how the other generations might influence how educational institutions uses technology to engage Millennial students.
The Generations : The Generations The Baby Boomers (Boomers)
Born between 1945-1964
73.2 million people
Generation Xers (Gen Xers)
Born between 1960-1980
70.1 million people
Millennials (Gen Y, Nexters, Echo-Boomers)
Born between 1980-2000
69.7 million people Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Boomers growing up in the 50’s and 60’s : Boomers growing up in the 50’s and 60’s The economy was the healthiest in U.S. history
The middle class swelled with high employment and rising wages
50% of the veterans of WWII attended college on the GI Bill
The public school system was said to have hit its peak
Campus protests and civil rights movements were based on the belief that this generation truly could make a difference (political optimism)
Over 75% of children grew up in Leave It To Beaver type households with mom at home Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Boomers Memorabilia and Core Values : Boomers Memorabilia and Core Values Memorabilia
Ed Sullivan Show
Fallout Shelters
Poodle Skirts
Slinkies
TV Dinners
Laugh-In
The Mod Squad
The Peace Sign Core Values
Optimism
Team orientation
Personal gratification
Health and wellness
Personal growth
Work
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Gen Xers Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s : Gen Xers Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s Economically tough times
The stock marked dropped 22%
Interest rates climbed and unemployment increased
The country faced a fuel crisis
The public school system was outdated and under funded
50% of children came home from school in the afternoon and were on their own; television as foster parent
Kids watched idols and institutions crumble (Watergate, Spiro T. Agnew, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart) = (Political Pessimism)
50% of children watched their own parents divorce Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Gen Xers Memorabilia and Core Values : Gen Xers Memorabilia and Core Values Memorabilia
The Brady Bunch
Star Wars
Pet Rocks
Platform Shoes
Dynasty
E.T.
Cabbage Patch Dolls Core Values
Question authority
Diversity
Thinking globally
Balance (work/fun)
Techno-literacy
Self-reliance
Skeptical
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Millennials growing up in the 80’s and 90’s : Millennials growing up in the 80’s and 90’s The economy was mixed
Technology exploded
Sometimes called Echo-Boomers because they share the optimism of the Boomers
Busy, over planned lives
Stress to succeed and excel
Clinton/Lewinsky
Columbine
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Millennials Memorabilia and Core Values : Millennials Memorabilia and Core Values Memorabilia
Barney
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Beanie Babies
Spice Girls
South Park
Oprah and Rosie
Core Values
Family
Trust in authority
Optimism
Civic duty
Confidence
Achievement
Morality
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
What Other Generations say about Boomers : What Other Generations say about Boomers What Gen Xers say about Boomers
They’re workaholics (success = long hours, not outcome)
They’re too political, always trying to figure out just what to say…to whom…and when
Lighten up; it’s only a job
What’s the management fad of the week?
They’re clueless
What Millennials say about Boomers
They’re cool.
They work too much
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
What Other Generations say about Gen X : What Other Generations say about Gen X What Boomers say about Gen X:
They’re slackers
They are rude and lack social skills
They’re always doing things their own way
They spend too much time on the internet and e-mail
They won’t wait their turn
They’re too skeptical
What Millennials say about Gen X:
Cheer up! Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
What Other Generations say about Millennials : What Other Generations say about Millennials What Boomers say about Millennials:
They’re cute
They need more discipline from their parents
They can set the time on the VCR!
They need to learn to entertain themselves; they need too much attention
Can they do my web page for me?
What Gen X say about Millennials
Echo-Boomers
Here we go again…another self-absorbed generation of spoiled brats
What do you mean, What’s an album?
Boomers 1945-1964
Gen Xers 1960-1980
Millennials 1980-2000
Technology Across the Generations How do the generations respond to technology (how does technology alter how they approach their lives) : Technology Across the Generations How do the generations respond to technology (how does technology alter how they approach their lives) Boomers find technology helpful but it is not always their first instinct
What happens when the internet goes down at work: Find other non-technical things to do
Gen Xers depend heavily on technology but they are Skeptical about almost everything
What happens when the internet goes down at work: Complain, get frustrated, stew
Millennials see technology as the air they breathe, essential to every aspect of life
What happens when the internet goes down at work: Can we go home?
Generational Use of Technology : Generational Use of Technology Boomers
Those who have chosen to embrace technology, use e-mail, as they are exposed to new technology, if they see value to it, they may embrace it. They still like paper.
Gen X
Use e-mail, text-messaging, blogs, instant-messaging, and rely on a combination of Boomer old-fashioned socializing and Millennial social networking.
Millennials
It’s the air they breathe. To be human = to be a digital native (for many of us, this is a paradigm shift)
Millennials Depend Heavily on their Parents (both Boomer and Gen X parents) : Millennials Depend Heavily on their Parents (both Boomer and Gen X parents) Millennials make decisions jointly with demanding parents (“co-purchasing” a college) and believe in big brands (with reputation counting for a lot).
They are very numerous, very intent on going to college, and look forward to planned career path.
Millennials feel a “trophy kid” pressure to excel.
Embrace Millennial Technology & Respect Generational Differences of the Parent : Embrace Millennial Technology & Respect Generational Differences of the Parent Yes, we need to begin to re-think how we engage and provide service to students.
But, before we abandon older technologies and ways of doing business, we need to remember that we are working with a generational team:
Millennial + Boomer Parent (Helicopter Parent)
Millennial + Gen X Parent (Stealth Fighter Parent)
Helicopter & Stealth Fighter Parents : Helicopter & Stealth Fighter Parents Meet the moms and dads – whom Wake Forest official Mary Gerardy coined as “helicopter parents,” always hovering – ultra protective, unwilling to let go, enlisting “the team” (physician, lawyer, psychiatrist, financial planner).
Where once parents simply unloaded the station wagon on move-in day, kissed the kid good-bye, and drove home, now they linger for days – fussing, meddling, crying, and even ranting if they think their very special child isn’t getting the very best of everything. When they don’t get their way, some threaten to take their business elsewhere or sue.
Slide29 : As Gen-X Stealth Fighter parents emerge as the predominant parent type over the next few years, colleges should expect these “annoying” trends to intensify. Stealth Fighter parents are even more protective, more electronically keyed in for constant surveillance, sharp eyes on the target, and ready to strike at a moment’s notice to defend their children’s interests.
Generational Expectations / Trends: Columbine (April 20, 1999) & Virginia Tech (April 16, 2007) : Generational Expectations / Trends: Columbine (April 20, 1999) & Virginia Tech (April 16, 2007) High-Tech campus security expected of Millennials and their Parents
Campus security is now a sales point, and the lack of it can be a real hindrance. To some degree, each college is a prisoner of its own geography, but no matter where a college may be located, it can implement the state-of-the-art, high-tech security many students and parents now expect.
More Generational Expectations/Trends : More Generational Expectations/Trends Gen-X parents will expect to get what they are paying for. Four star prices = four star amenities and service. Class time to be spent well. They will want to know who is actually teaching the class, is it a full professor, is the teaching engaging, will the information be useful in their student’s future career?
Boomers and Gen-X parents will have expected their “trophy” children to get full ride scholarships. Their back-up plan is… – there is no back-up plan. Their first impulse will be to have their student take out private loans in the student’s name.
With instant technology come highly unreasonable service expectations.
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students Facebook, MySpace
Social networking websites individuals, (teens and college students), join to interact online.
When you “join” you make “friends” and interact via messages and blogs.
Your “profile” lets the world, (literally), know who you are.
MySpace is the H.S. “teen” hangout
Facebook is the College Student place to be
What will happen as the “MySpacers” go to college?
They get both!
Your School might have a MySpace page!
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students Blogs
Blogs are everywhere
Many of our Admissions colleagues are using them
Google search on results: Results 1 - 10 of about 1,870,000 for university admissions blog
Univ of Chicago, Univ San Francisco, Creighton, Univ Houston, Oregon State, Case Western, MIT
So are some of us!
Ohio State (Pharmacy), American U (Law), John Carroll
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students Podcasts
Audio (and some video) snippets (3-5 minutes) that can be played on a computer or Audio/Video player (ipods, etc)
Suntrust has produced a great set of Podcasts
http://www.suntrusteducation.com/toolbox/podcasts.asp
Virginia Highlands CC was/is a pioneer
http://www.vhcc.edu/financialaid/podcast.htm
New Mexico State is doing video
http://fa.nmsu.edu/videos/
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students IM
Instant Messaging – AOL, Yahoo, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber
None of them are secure unless you PAY for their secure solutions
We all use them, both for internal communications and with students/parents
We shouldn’t!
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students Live Chat
Two types
Scheduled chats in a chat room
Live one on one chats
Again, our Admissions Colleagues did it first
Many of us are now “chatting”
FIU, UNC-Greensboro, Univ Baltimore, Adelphi, NJIT, Montgomery College, USF
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students Live Chat @ FIU
Florida International University quick facts
Founded 1965, First classes 1972, largest first day opening in American Higher Education with 5,667 students.
Now offers over 200 Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral programs in 22 colleges and schools including Nursing, Architecture, Law and beginning 2009 Medicine.
Fall 2006 enrollment 38,813
Top 30 FAFSA Filers school
Over 11,000 Pell recipients
Title II and V and HSI with 60% Hispanic population
How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students : How some schools are beginning to re-think how they engage and provide service to students FIU uses one to one live chat
Chose Live person (http://www.liveperson.com/) to provide tools and hosting
Began with a “soft” roll out of Admissions and Financial Aid in October 2006.
Added Registrar in November 2006
Monthly Chat Stats : Monthly Chat Stats
Monthly Chat Stats : Monthly Chat Stats
Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) : Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) Students love it
“What a wonderful service! It saves a lot of time. Good job. The representatives were very helpful!”
“I like that is so direct as in oppose to waiting to call and to stay on hold till someone is available it is very convenient I like it.”
“The representative was a great help to me. She even went so far as to call Bright Futures and have them disburse my funds! She helped me more than when I walked into the financial aid office a month ago! I will definitely recommend Panther Chat to friends. Thanks so much for everything!”
“This is the best thing since sliced bread! It sure beats waiting for someone to answer the phone!”
Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) : Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) http://www.finaid.fiu.edu
Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) : Live Chat @ FIU (cont.) Great Administrative tools
See who is on your website in real time
See who is chatting with whom
See who is waiting for a chat
“directed” browsing
Initiate chat from Admin side
Pull all kinds of statistics
FIU’s “help” page
http://w3.fiu.edu/enrollment/livePersonHelp.htm
Conversation: Share your experiences / Q&A : Conversation: Share your experiences / Q&A
This is a green presentation
No trees were killed
For a PDF of this presentation, e-mail Steve Bryant at sbryant@usc.edu