Creating Courses That Engage Gen Y
Gen Y is a tough act to teach. They grew up surrounded by media and marketing; they can download anything, at any time. So how do you keep them engaged when delivering a webinar or other types of distance courses?
Here are some tips to keep it mind:
– Keep it short
– Use media-rich “Edu-tainment”
– Create small metacognitive tasks
Keep It Short
Gen Y has a short attention span, especially online. They are the ultimate multi-taskers; your challenge is to keep them engaged so that they don’t check email and IM while also participating in your webinar. Bite-size webinars that only last 10 to 15 minutes with links to more information will keep them engaged at the time, as well as later for their ‘homework’.
Use Media-rich “Edu-tainment”
Enjoyment during the learning process improves retention and promotes curiosity. You will have better student engagement with Gen Y when using more media-rich methods of delivery. For example, embed 1-minute videos into your presentation to reinforce a key point, use music during the lecture, ask the students to create wikis as class projects or have them post their answers as videos on You Tube. Using a variety of media-rich methods will help the students learn your key points in fun, interactive ways.
Create Small Metacognitive Tasks
The concept of a “course” as a one-hour lecture is becoming granularized. To engage Gen Y, you need to find ways to create smaller metacognitive tasks. This means that planting the seed of a topic for 10 minutes, followed by planned activities, will be more effective than discussing the topic in detail for 45 minutes. Once you plant the seed, you then create other methods of discussion to keep the students engaged. For example, plant the seed in a 10-minute lecture, then allow time to reflect, read, journal. The next activity could be group projects using media rich methods. Then you can plant the second seed in a similar manner, allowing all your points to eventually be made.
As I was recently explaining this concept to a client, they summed it up beautifully by saying, “It takes more work up front on the teacher’s part, but less work during the actual course as the students are engaging and learning for themselves.” That’s what I call a win-win.
