As the distance education profession continues to change, so do student demographics. We’re seeing new opportunities to transform the online classroom into a vibrant and engaging learning environment for all students through the use of multimedia. Yet, while we see the opportunity therein it’s important to understand that incorporating multimedia learning tools may be more of a requirement to engage and motivate some students, particularly younger generations such as Millennials who constitute a larger portion of the online classroom every day.
How well do you know Millennials? Learning about their learning needs provides a great starting point for ramping up your multimedia learning game. Whereas Generation X saw the advent of the Internet and experienced an adoption of this life-changing technological development, most Millennials don’t even know what it was like to live without it. Moreover, they are accustomed to the presence of multimedia and even expect elements like video and audio, interactivity and social interaction. The online classroom is no exception and it’s a fact that has implications for distance education instructors.
If engagement is a key success factor for all distance education students, it’s even more critical for Millennials. Koeller (2012) points out that they have relatively short attention spans and get bored with teacher-centered lectures, want more learning options than have been heretofore provided, and are accustomed to technology. Given their affinity for technology, it comes as no surprise that they need multimedia like audio and video to be present in the online classroom; it’s one of the effects of having grown up in a media-conscious world. Indeed, Millennials’ attachment to technology is one of their most striking characteristics (Bracy, Bevill & Roach, 2010).
Maürtin-Cairncross, A. (2014) prescribes the use of different delivery modes and “eye-candy” including such elements as photos, animation, video and audio to motivate and stimulate Millennials (p. 577). Without engagement, little follows to the end of learning so it isn’t surprising that the use of multimedia in the online classroom can serve as a catalyst, opening doors to more effective learning experiences. In the case of Millennials, this approach may actually be a prerequisite to effective learning.
Think of the possibilities. Several key characteristics of Millennials can be leveraged to promote effective learning in the online classroom. Providing various multimedia options appeals to their need for choices and avoids forcing them into reading printed text, which they don’t like. Video can be used to promote interaction within learning teams to fulfill the preference for small group discussions. It can also be integrated into social media platforms to fulfill the desire to connect outside of the classroom in a familiar format.
There are myriad opportunities that all start with getting to know Millennials. Perhaps a start would be recognizing them as holistic learners. From there, it just makes sense that the variety multimedia provides would be integral to meeting them where they are.
References
Bracy, C., Bevill, S., & Roach, T.D. (2010). The Millennial generation: Recommendations for overcoming teaching challenges. Proceedings of the Academy of Educational Leadership, 15(2).
Koeller, M. (2012). From baby boomers to generation Y millennials: Ideas on how professors might structure classes for this media conscious generation.Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 12(1), 77.
Maürtin-Cairncross, A. (2014). A glimpse of Generation-Y in higher education: Some implications for teaching and learning environments. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(2).