Boomers & Gen-Xers Millennials: Understanding the New Students – Unit 5

Oblinger, D. (2003). " Boomers & Gen-Xers Millennials: Understanding the new students." Educause Review, July/August. 7-16.

Currently, colleges and universities are seeing a change in the type of students attending. These “new students” represent a population of learners that are more comfortable with technology Not only that, but for today’s new students, “customer service is an expectation, not an exception” (11). Given these two major changes in the student body, Oblinger offers many examples of how Colleges and Universities are changing to accommodate the new expectations of students.

According to the author, these new students expect more experiential learning as a result of their pervasive use of technology. To address this need, MIT, for example, has created an online microelectronics laboratory called WebLab. This lab not only offers students one type of learning they desire (experiential), but also is available 24x7. Another way Universities are addressing students’ new needs is by offering several “customer services” at their schools. One such service is DrexelOne Mobile at Drexel University. This service sends personalized information such as last-minute classroom changes and final grades to students’ cell phones or PDAs. That is certainly a service that I’d like to see here at WWU.

This article makes a very good argument for how schools need to change in order to address the needs of the student body. The “average” student is not the same as they were even 10 years ago. Every university should look at its infrastructure and access what changes must be made to meet the expectations and needs of the “new student”.