Nigina Rustamova is a teacher at Westminster International University in Tashkent. She is interested in student collaboration, autonomy and digitalized blended learning. Current professional interests are developing personalized lessons integrating Web 2.0 technological applications. E-mail: nrustamova@wiut.uz   

 

"If the child is not learning the way you are teaching,

then you must teach in the way the child learns" - Rita Dunn

 

Introduction

Current digitalized world requires from each and every sphere of life to reconsider the actions, activities, habits and adopt them to the current needs and wants of the society. Education is not an exception. The teaching methods that used to be effective for learners even a decade ago don’t respond to the needs of the current and/or potential learners. Taking this into account, what should the teachers do to motivate students and encourage learning? In order to know what students expect having in the lessons, and their best way of learning, the teachers have to find out the characteristics of the generation that is in the classrooms and adopt their teaching methods to learners’ preferences and abilities. The great asset in achieving it is to refer to Generation Typology and identify the years of born, common personal traits and abilities of 5 Generation trends.

Figure 1. Generation typology

Source: Consultancy.uk (2015, cited in Cilliers, 2017 p. 190)

According to Cilliers (2017, p.190) Generation typology describes 5 trends starting with Traditionalists born between 1928 and 1944 who value authority; the next is Baby boomers born between 1945 and 1964, considered to be workaholics; the third is Generation X, born between 1965 and 1979, values work and life balance; the next is Generation Y, in other sources mentioned as Millennials, born between 1980 and1994, tech savvy, goals and achievements oriented and finally, Generation Z born after 1995, digital natives and fast decision makers. As it can be seen from the description, Generation Z are the current learners in the classrooms and it is important to know their learning habits to make the classes motivating for them.

There are plenty of research findings on Generation Z learning preferences and this topic is still being explored. Miranda (2020) and Cilliers (2017, p.190) claim that digital tools are necessary parts of their life being born into a globally connected world. Rothman (2016) states that the brains of Gen Zers (Generation Z) work differently compared to previous generations and the reason is not genetics but the impact of external environment. Their brains are connected to complex visual imagery and the part of the brain that is responsible for visual ability is well developed (ibid). This results in students’ preference of visual form of learning to auditory ones including lectures and discussions (Szabo, 2021, p. 125; Cilliers, 2017, p. 190). Since they access all needed information with one click, they demand the same approach in the classroom, they want to have quick information and immediate feedback (ibid). Moreover, Gen Zers appreciate interactive games, collaborative projects, online quizzes and challenges in the learning environment (Rothman, 2016).

All these findings question teachers how to meet the expectations of the learners and motivate them to fully benefit from lessons and get equipped with necessary skills for their future professional life. The most effective way to meet these goals is implementing Web 2.0 tools into the teaching methods. According to researchers, Web 2.0 tools are read/write tools and programs for users to create contents and interact with others while Web 1.0 tools were read-only, designed to go online to find the needed information similar to going to the library (An and Williams, 2010; Gulley, and Thomas, no date). Web 2.0 tools encourage learners to share their ideas and collaborate with their peers and teachers in innovative way becoming knowledge creators and stimulating student centered learning approach (Felix, 2021; An and Williams, 2010). Now students are responsible for their learning and understand the value of creation and contribution. Since the learners are digital natives, it is easy and flexible for them to use these tools in their learning experience (An and Williams, 2010; Gulley, and Thomas, no date). Furthermore, they can always refer to the material again and at any time so as to revise the topic and missed details.

However, alongside with Web 2.0 tools benefits, the researchers outline a number of barriers to using them in teaching. Palaigeorgiou and Grammatikopolou (2016) think that one of the leading challenges in using Web 2.0 tools is its time-consuming character. The tools require a lot of time to design the activities, track students’ progress and performance. Moreover, Web 2.0 tools increase the life span of the activities and teachers have to interact with students beyond the classroom, throughout the day. Lack of teacher expertise and technology are also considered to be the barriers to integrating them into teaching (Pritchet et al, 2013). The fast-paced digital world introduces numerous tools and platforms frequently and decreases the teacher competence to learn and manage new tools, integrate them into their teaching environment. In order to overcome these challenges, researchers suggest not overusing the digital tools in one semester (An and Williams, 2010). This will help to save time and not to lead to surface learning from students’ side. Moreover, attending digital professional development courses will enhance teachers’ technical expertise and motivate them to transform their teaching methods based on the needs of the learners (Palaigeorgiou and Grammatikopolou, 2016).

 

Effective Web 2.0 tools

Taking the fact that new digital tools are emerging day by day it is essential for teachers to select the tools that are ease to use, promote students’ collaboration, enhance learners’ engagement and appropriate for offline, hybrid and online classes. EdPuzzle, Vimeo, VideoAnt, Flipgrid and Padlet are among those effective Web 2.0 tools.

To briefly introduce each of them, EdPuzzle is easy-to-use, free video platform which allows teachers to integrate tasks into available videos on YouTube as well as use ready-to-go videos uploaded by other content creators. EdPuzzle videos can successfully be used in formative assessment since they provide immediate results and feedback as Gen Zers demand, enabling teachers to track the students’ progress on the topic. Vimeo  is another video making platform which provides screen and webcam recording options too. Free basic plan offers ready templates for making personalized videos and unlimited recording opportunities. Students can watch the videos, leave comments and collaborate with each other. Flipgrid is the next video collaboration tool that encourages students to share their video responses, comments to the tasks shared by the teachers. Students interact with each other posting comments to their peers’ video and improving their speaking skills. Furthermore, teachers can effortlessly track the responses and hours of students’ engagement on this platform. VideoAnt is effective free video annotation tool designed to add annotations (comments, notes, tasks, questions) to publicly accessible, web-hosted YouTube videos where students enhance their writing skills responding to the video tasks in a written form. Finally, Padlet is another effective free content making and sharing collaboration tool with multitude functions. In particular, it is a great content hub to store all the designed materials with ready templates and gradable activities. Its competitive advantage is the flexibility that allows uploading any type of materials such as texts, videos, voice recordings, pictures, Google docs and others. Another benefit of Padlet is that it requires minimum technical expertise providing easy managing function, thus making it appropriate for all ages and level of skills.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, current fast-paced environment triggers changes in every sphere of the society based on the needs and wants of the community. Education needs transformation of teaching approach based on the preferences and abilities of digital native learners. In these circumstances, the use Web 2.0 technologies can contribute to the high level of Gen Zers engagement and motivation making the learning more digitalized, visual and collaborative. The above-mentioned platforms EdPuzzle, Vimeo, Flipgrid, VideoAnt and Padlet will be a great asset for teachers and students to achieve desired goals.       

 

References

An, Y. and Williams, K. (2010). Teaching with Web 2.0 Technologies: Benefits, Barriers and lessons learned, International Journal of Instructional technology & Distance learning, 7(3), pp. 41-48

An, Y. and Williams, K. (2010), “Teaching with Web 2.0 technologies: benets, barriers and

lessons learned”, International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning,

Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 41-48.

An, Y. and Williams, K. (2010), “Teaching with Web 2.0 technologies: benets, barriers and

lessons learned”, International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning,

Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 41-48.

Cilliers, E., (2017). The challenge of teaching Generation Z. People, International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(1), pp.188-198.

Felix, C., (2020). The Role of the Teacher and AI in Education. Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, pp.33-48.

Gulley, J. and Thomas, J., (n.d). Using Web 2.0 tools to engage learners | College STAR. [online] Collegestar.org. Available at: <https://www.collegestar.org/modules/using-web-2-0-tools-to-engage-learners> [Accessed 1 May 2022].

Miranda, C., (2020). Generation Z: Re-thinking Teaching and Learning Strategies | Faculty Focus. [online] Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. Available at: <https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/generation-z-re-thinking-teaching-and-learning-strategies/> [Accessed 1 May 2022].

Palaigeorgiou, G. and Grammatikopoulou, A., (2016). Benefits, barriers and prerequisites for Web 2.0 learning activities in the classroom. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, [online] 13(1), pp.2-18. Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301673161_Benefits_barriers_and_prerequisites_for_Web_20_learning_activities_in_the_classroom_The_view_of_Greek_pioneer_teachers> [Accessed 7 May 2022].

Pritchett, C., Pritchett, C. and Wohleb, E., (2013). Usage, Barriers, and Training of Web 2.0 Technology Applications. SRATE Journal, [online] 22(2), pp.29-38. Available at: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1015771.pdf> [Accessed 2 May 2022].

Rothman, D. (2016). A Tsunami of learners called Generation Z. [online] available at: http://www.mdle.net/Journal/A_Tsunami_of_Learners_Called_Generation_Z. pdf

Szabo, Marianna, C., Bartal, Orsolya, Nagy and Balint, (2021). The Methods and IT-Tools Used in Higher Education Assessed in the Characteristics and Attitude of Gen Z. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 18(1), pp.121-140.

 

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