Teaching the Swipe Generation

As Gen Z reshapes university life, educators must balance technology, discipline and empathy in a rapidly changing classroom.

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The transformation of higher education has been a stealth change. In today’s classrooms, textbooks, lectures, and exams are no longer the only characteristics of a classroom. Instead, they are influenced by smartphones, artificial intelligence, social media, digital learning platforms and the attitudes of students. The core of this change lies with Generation Z, the generation that has grown up in a hyper connected world, with new expectations, behaviours and challenges for both education and teachers.

Gen Z students are different to their predecessors; they’ve been born to instant access to information. Now, knowledge is not just confined to classrooms or libraries; it is just a click away with search engines, online courses and AI enabled tools. Research reveals that Gen Z spends six-seven hours on digital platforms outside of their academic lessons, which has a significant impact on the way they communicate, learn and take in information. It doesn’t matter if there’s another classroom out there; it’s all about algorithms, notifications, and short attention spans.

Shifting Roles

With this technology, the role of teachers has been shifted from being the only source of knowledge to facilitators, guides and mentors. With this change came opportunities for interactive learning and innovation, as well as new challenges. Teachers see students today are more reliant on digital tools, less willing to wait long periods for a teacher to teach and more likely to get information in short bites, such as through short-form content or social media.

This change was further driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Online classes became commonplace, digital interaction normal and flexible learning settings normal. Technology helped to maintain continuity in education but it also had a negative impact on face-to-face interaction in classrooms. In today’s world where students are constantly surrounded by distractions of digital technology, many teachers are finding it difficult to keep students engaged and interacting in the classroom.

This “new normal” has been enhanced by artificial intelligence. Students are turning to AI tools, such as ChatGPT and educational platforms, for assignments, research, and exam preparation. The adoption of AI among university students is also on the rise, according to reports by McKinsey & Company, highlighting the speed at which technology is becoming an integral part of university life all over the world. AI has the potential to enhance accessibility and efficiency, but it also poses a threat to critical thinking, originality and excessive reliance on technology.

Respect and classroom behaviour is also a current topic of discussion. Traditional education systems were often authoritarian based with the teacher having unwavering respect. However, Gen Z is more open to straightforward leadership, dialogue and emotions, than hierarchy. This change does not necessarily mean disrespect, rather a generational change in any student’s relationship with relationships and authority in learning spaces.

Socio-Emotional Aspect

As a result, mentorship is emerging as one of the most important aspects of modern higher education. Students want educators who will offer them more than just academic support — support for mental health challenges, career confusion, online distractions, and social anxiety. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the anxiety, stress, and burnout of young people have increased dramatically in recent years, especially since the pandemic. Schools are thus forced to address the socio-emotional aspect of learning and the provision of student support structures as well as academics.

Meanwhile there is increasing pressure on teachers. Teachers are required to be constantly flexible in their use of new technologies, to deal with a classroom that is often distracted by technology, and to be emotionally available to students as they work and to support administration and instruction. Teachers have to be adaptable because of the speedy changes in education technology.

But it is not only students or teachers that are to be blamed for the difficulties of higher education. The society has changed. Communication, socialization, jobs and the concept of education have evolved in the digital age. Gen Z students are growing up in a society that is facing significant economic instability, technological disruption and always being connected to the internet. Their attitudes and behaviours are a result of their growing up circumstances.

Conflict between generations is not the right answer; it’s about understanding and adaptation. The learning environment in educational institutions needs to establish a space in which discipline is embedded within empathy, technology promotes human interaction, and mentorship is the core of learning. It is important that teachers receive institutional support and training to cope with the dynamic of the classroom, and that student understand the importance of being patient, respectful and engaged in their academics.

Education for Higher Learning is no longer a mere process of assigning degrees; it is an educative process which prepares for the life of a rapidly changing world. As we live in this new normal, the teaching and learning process will not only be determined by the ability of students to achieve academic success, but also by the capacity of teachers to connect with students across generations and nurture understanding, adaptation and respect.

While the classroom of the future could be quite different from the past, one thing is certain – education is fundamentally a human experience and effective learning is as much about relationships as it is about knowledge.

(Anuradha P.S. is Professor at Christ (Deemed to be University). Divyashree is Professor, Alliance University, Bengaluru. Views personal.)