Anderson, Courtne: Beloit List

Changes in today’s world happen rapidly. Something new will appear almost every day during the lives of the current 2011 fall college students. The Beloit Mindset List and the Mindset List of Faculty greatly point out the differences between the two generations. However, as there will always be within the human race, there are still some similarities between both the 2011 students and the faculty members born prior to 1980.

                   

The main differences the two lists examined are the pop culture changes between the current students and their professors. Many things have passed in and out of fame over the past thirty years. Students may constantly be talking about the latest episode of Jersey Shore, which virtually means nothing to an older faculty member. On the opposite hand of that, faculty members who reference such shows as Cheers or The Wonder Years have no effect to those students currently sitting in their classrooms. Differences in pop culture and what we have grown up seeing cause a slight rift in the teaching/ learning environment.

                   

Another major difference between the two generations is the changes made to technology. Older faculty members would have typed all of their papers on typewriters. Today’s generation has never been without a computer of some sort. Personal computers have always been available to 2011 students, and they have always had access to the internet. Also, within the last few years, technology has advanced; creating touch screen tablet computers, and other smart devices such as cell phones. This technology would have been completely unheard of during the college years of those staff members born before 1980.  The changes in technology greatly influence how students learn, and how they can obtain information.

                  

 One more important difference between the faculty members born before 1980 and the students of 2011 is how the world has changed its views on respect. When faculty members received bad grades while they were in school, it was because of lack of preparation on their part, and they were expected to work harder to earn better grades. That mindset makes perfect sense to me; however, not many students in this generation feel the same way. The mindset of current students is that if they receive a bad grade it is entirely the professor’s fault, and not their own lack of learning the material being covered. Professors have to deal with complaining students and their parents because of bad grades, whereas they would have never thrown such fits in their own youth.

                   

Though there are many differences between the faculty members born prior to 1980 and the students entering college in the fall of 2011, there are also similarities. Both the students and the teachers are humans; therefore they connect on one level or another. Older professors prove to work harder to encourage their students to excel in classes. They have a passion about their fields and wish to share it with the new faces.  Professors try their hardest to find new ways to connect with their students and provide a learning environment that is compatible with both age groups. Students, in the same way, will become more engaged in classes that they can understand and relate to.

                   

There are many differences and similarities between the fall students of 2011 entering college and the professors that they encounter. The age gap between students and teachers will never decrease, and technology will never stop changing. Students and faculty members must learn to relate through the generation gap to help one another learn and grow, and to provide a good learning environment.

Marsh, Daly: Beloit List

                  Since time began people have been coming up with new technology and inventions. These new Ideas are what make each generation different from the last. New ideas, a different slang, and a new ways of thinking will always divide generations.

                 

My generation, Generation Y, is more tech-savvy than our parents, Generation X. Electronics is one of the main differences between the two generations. Our parents grew up without electronics. To them, one of the greatest inventions was a Pac Man game that you could play for a quarter at the grocery store in town. Now our generation plays it on our phones.

                   

Generation X raised us. Even though our world is changing, our morals still stand by what they taught us. Morals are what keeps our generations tied together. Both generations rely on our conscience when making decisions, and our parents gave that to us.

                 

Another big difference in generations is multiculturalism. Back when our grandparents were young the idea of going to school with someone who wasn’t from the same race was thought ridiculous. Racism was popular and practiced. Segregation from different cultures was common during  that time.  Now, cultures around the world are mixed together. Thrown into one giant mixing pot, we go to school with people from across the world and don’t have a clue to what their background is like. We are becoming more acceptant of people every day, and this is one difference between us and our previous generations. Now that we have come together, technology is moving faster than ever. People are working together, instead of competing for a spot in society new ideas are opening up. After reading the Beloit list, I realized many of the ways Generatlon Y is different from the previous generations. We have different lingo that some of our parents will never understand. We speak of things that we have no clue about because they didn’t happen during our lifetimes. We talk about texting our friends and our parents barely know how to dial a number. They talk about LBJ, and we start talking about basketball statistics. The differences in our generations are never ending.

                   

Generation Y has a different work perspective than Generation X. My generation goes to work expecting someone to tell us what to do during every part of the day because that is how we were raised. We grew up asking our parent’s questions on how to do things. Also we have a different attire than our parents. We show up to work in flip flops and casual clothes in places most people would wear a suit. We strive to make ourselves noticed. We go above and beyond to make our bosses notice us. We strive to be noticed over the other employee working right next to us.

Another point is that even though we have our differences, one generation from now it will not matter. The next generation will be coming up with new technology that bypasses our own. Our descendants will race past our technology and then we will be the ones left in the dust. So in the end our differences will not matter. Our generations are growing apart in many ways, but we still remain closely attached with our morals.

Mahelona, Ryan: Beloit List

Between each generation changes in technology, business, social interaction, science and fashion take place. College professors today face many new situations that in their time were never an issue. To observe this trend, Google “1980’s fashion” and wonder, how did the ozone layer survive all of that hair spray? The difference in lifestyle between Generation X (DOB: 1965-80) and Generation Y (1985-85) is a prime example of how much life has changed based on publicly-used technology. When the first cell phone made its commercial debut at 2.5 pounds in 1983 (cnet.com), it was the first rung on the ladder that would lead to the computer-like, smartphones that teachers all over the world have learned to hate.

          

At the end of 2009 21% of Americans were in possession of a smartphone (nielsen.com), a phone with PDA functions. This is an advantage that all prior generations never had. The library is no longer the only place to conduct literary research when Internet access is available in 1 out of 5 pockets and at every college. The technology boom currently underway has drastically affected all departments in college. Art classes can now taking walking tours of the Louvre, math students do not even recognize the slide calculator as a viable resource, graduate students can now spell check their thesis papers with a single key stroke, and biology students can explore a DNA molecule on their sleek, new iPads. However, this boom has provided negative aspects to the teaching community too. The ease of access to online data and informational sites has presented a portable threat to academic integrity.

The internet has given the students of today the tools to cheat with ease. Teachers often underestimate the amount of information the Internet harbors. With the correct keywords, one can Google almost anything. Examining organic mechanisms in chemistry or solving equations for calculus are just two examples. Technological upgrades are showing up in the classroom at an impressive rate and, so are rules that keep them away from the learning process. As any modern day teacher knows, texting has become an epidemic of sorts. Students sending text messages during a test or interrupting lecture with a ringer has become a big problem in many schools as well.

          

The gap between generations has provided a set of pros and cons that weigh on the faculty-student relationship. However, I believe the differences to be negligible. A teacher does not need to be up to date on the latest fashion or have the best gadgets money can buy to be able to convey the subject they teach.  

Winchell, Raechel: Beloit List

                  There are many similarities and differences between the children of the Information Age and the older generation that teaches them. In most cases, the technology gap causes either a lack of understanding or a belief that students are becoming lazier. With the inventions of new technology comes new understanding and a lesser work ethic.

                   

Most of the older faculty still believe that spam is a type of canned meat, not an e-mail term. A lot of my professors dislike the use of cellphones due to the dishonest things that can be done with them, such as looking up answers to test questions. Students, however, find them useful and informational. Technology has also changed the math curriculum completely. Graphing calculators allow a student to work an entire and complex problem without ever having to work it out by hand. In my college algebra class last year, my teacher voiced several complaints against the use of calculators because they do the work for students. Soon, page-long equations will be a thing of the past.

                   

The Internet allows for book reports to be completed without ever cracking open a book. This can be credited to Spark notes and online book summaries, as well as to audio books. The luxury of audio books is that they require no reading at all. Traditional educators have always been involved in the news and current events in the world. With the invention of cell phones and news apps, most young people never watch news on the television anymore. They don’t see the point, when it can be viewed on the Internet with the click of a button. This leads to a lack of knowledge regarding the world around them. The biggest change that I have found while on this campus has to do with the library’s lack of fiction books. Literacy is no longer encouraged. That young people are not reading for enjoyment is both saddening and scary.

Much remains alike from when the educators themselves were in school. The basics of the curriculum are still very much the same. With the exception of the occasional laptop, most students still take their notes by pen and paper, and tests are still given in paper format. Most classes are still 50 minutes long, and the grading scale hasn’t changed much. The college experience itself is very constant in that students still have to leave home for the first time and abandon their comfort zones. The dormitories are still very basic and students still have to learn to cope with a roommate. School spirit has and will always be an important common area for students and faculty. The Mulerider sports teams have always experienced increasing support from the school, and the community. This is very unlikely to change anytime soon. Although, tuition rates are ever-rising, the fact that they are terribly expensive has always been clear. Technology hasn’t changed the way that faculty and students can still carry on intelligent conversations with one another, and connect with each other on an intellectual level outside of the classroom. This teacher-student bond will continue to strengthen even as the Internet grows. Online classes,however, may be an exception. Lastly, the reasons for being in the classroom have not changed. Students and faculty  have always gathered in class to reach a common goal, whether it be to obtain a degree or to earn a higher salary.

                   

With the advancement of the Internet and other technology, education is always changing. There are many similarities as well as differences between today’s learners and the older educators that teach them.

Khadka, Shubashree: Beloit List

The Beloit List is published annually in order to inform professors about the life experiences of the upcoming batch of freshmen. The most recent list presents the class of 2015 as the ‘Internet Class’ as most students in this class were born in 1993 when the Internet became the ‘happening’ thing that it is today. Now, almost two decades later, much of today’s society is built upon this glorious thing called the Internet, making it likely for this year’s freshmen to be hooked on technology. Because this list mainly focuses on students, Professor Bruce Krajewski came up with another mindset list for faculty born before 1980. This list deals with what faculty know, think, and believe. Both lists reveal differences between the mindsets of the new ‘Internet Class’ and faculty who are over 30 years of age. Both generations have problems recognizing prominent people from each other’s generation. For example, LBJ for those faculty born before 1980 would be President Lyndon B. Johnson but students think of LeBron James. Also, students know Arnold Palmer as a drink, Andy Warhol as a museum while to faculty, they were famous people.

Another difference is that both groups have their own verbal communication style. Today’s college students use “yadda, yadda, yadda” basically to cut a long story short. They use “like” in almost every other sentence. Faculty uses “wii” as an exclamation in order to show a feeling of euphoria. The means of communication also differs. Faculty use “I phone” to communicate but only as a part of speech and not the real cellphone from Apple. Students and their cellphones are inseparable. They prefer texting and Facebook over e-mail. On the other hand, their faculty faced books instead of using Facebook. From music to books, nearly all types of media are available on the Internet. Today, many students never meet their teachers due to the availability of online courses. The Internet has grown so much that people have even started to create their wills online.

The differences between the generations are not limited to technology. Each grew up in two different kinds of social environments. Freshmen grew up at a time when women served in Navy, the Supreme Court, and in the Catholic Church. They have always seen tax forms in Spanish. Faculty, however, grew up when there was no empowerment of women. They lived during an age when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not celebrated in every state. The United States did not even have governance over Guantánamo back then.

These two lists present a brief outline about how different the mindsets of people of different generations tend to be. Instead of dividing the two sets of people, this list in fact helps them understand each other and come together for the common purpose of learning from each other. Faculty must have an open mind and remain updated about every change happening in a changing world. Similarly, students must respect what their teachers believe in and should consider learning about the reasons that led to those beliefs.   

Love Learning

Later today, I will address the Magnolia High School chapter of the National Honor Society. The principal said I should speak 8 to 10 minutes. I hope they have a hook. I will keep my remarks brief. Here is the text of what I plan to say. If things go as usual, what I actually say will only bear a passing resemblance to the words below. At least I'm aware of that beforehand.

 LOVE LEARNING: Prepared text of speech.

Thank you for having me tonight. It is a great honor and a privilege to be standing here in front of you. Congratulations for all you have already achieved academically. You have earned your honors through hard work and diligence.  But, you may not realize that you are only at the beginning of your long journey. I expect that all of you will pursue higher education; you should. You might be asking yourself, "What comes ahead?

             

Unfortunately, neither I nor anyone else knows the answer to that question. However, it is possible to look at the past for answers. As the philosopher George Santayana said: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Thus, the past has lessons for all of us and most of those lessons are hard ones.

            

 I'd like to share some lessons learned from my past. Try not to laugh too much. Mostly, I'll concentrate on technology, although you may question my use of the term once you hear the examples.

             

When I was in high school I had to buy a slide rule or a slip stick, as we called it. Slide rules were the calculators of the day and came in a wide variety of styles and materials, depending on the scales engraved on them or how they were made. All of the math classes had 8 foot ones mounted on the front wall. My slide rule was optic yellow and was made of aluminum. It cost me about $20 and I recently sold it on e-Bay for much less.

             

I took a manual portable typewriter to college. It cost $79. I once had to show my children how to use one. They asked, "Where's the display." I said, "It only produces hard copy." Then they asked how to fix errors. I showed them a typewriter eraser. Try finding one of those at Walmart.

            

 In grad school I upgraded to an IBM Selectric full size typewriter, my PhD dissertation was typed on it. I also bought a new-fangled device, a handheld calculator. It cost $149 and could take square roots! Of course, the complex statistical computations I needed to make took hours and required large pieces of paper.

           

I arrived at SAU over 30 years ago just as computers started to take off. Late at night I would sit at a dumb terminal of our Digital PDP-11 minicomputer, mini in name only; it filled a room and cost well over $50,000, and learn to program in BASIC, another now moribund computer language.

            

 Next year you'll probably go to college equipped with a laptop, smartphone, and, if your lucky, a tablet. That will set your parents back at least $2,000 (probably more). Right now, most of you avoid e-mail, FaceBook constantly (I see you in the back) or Twitter or Skype. Ask yourself, will those apps be around in 30 years? The smart money says no. What would you say about me if I still used a slide rule, typewriter, or simple hand calculator?

           

So, what's the answer to the question, "What lies ahead." The one sure answer is something different, something new. More important than what those new things will be is whether you will be able to use them. Will you end up like some adults today, clueless in the face of change. Does your mother have a Twitter account? Does your father have his own FaceBook page? Will you friend him if he does?

             

The real question then is NOT what lies ahead. Instead, the question is how will I deal with the inevitable changes I will witness during my life? Fortunately, it's a simple answer: LOVE LEARNING.

             

Learning is the answer. The content you learned yesterday will be useless soon, but how you learned it will not. In other words, you are sitting here because you are good learners. Don't believe that your learning days are over. No, they have just begun. Too many people either stop learning or never started to learn. They have no chance to keep up with our ever-changing world. You don't want to join their ranks.

            

 So, don't stop learning; I know you won't. LOVE LEARNING. It will carry you through any change coming down the road.

Thank you.

You want it when?

Just made this picture of David with my new iPhone 4s. It looks like he's a little surprised at your question. Of course, nothing would get done around here without him. So, think before you speak.

NCHC 2011 Report

The 2011 NCHC meeting was held in Phoenix at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel last week (October 19 to 23, 2011). Three people from SAU attendend: Honors College GA Suraj Manandhar, Deborah Wilson, and Edward P. Kardas. We arrived on Thursday, October 20 and left on the following Sunday.

On Thursday, Kardas attended a reunion of directors who had attended the two camps for beginning directors. The first such camp was held at Iowa State University in 2009 (the one Kardas attended) and the second was held in 2011 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The utility of this camp for new directors cannot be overemphasized. Most of the campers at the meeting reported favorable results with their individual honors colleges and programs since having attended. A few reported problems, mostly with finances.

On Friday, all SAU participants attended various sessions. One was the Business Meeting of the Southern Regional Honors Council which last year met in Little Rock. In 2012 that meeting will be in Tampa and in 2013 will be in Louisville.

Other meetings attended included one on starting or revitalizing two-year honors programs. SAU hopes to seed such programs at nearby community colleges. Manandhar and Kardas attended the Research Committee meeting. That meeting's agenda was relatively long but productive. SAU will host a new Web page featuring honors research. At present, there is no central location housing honors research beyond the K to 12 level. Manandhar will create and manage the page. Members of the research committee will cull and categorize the records he collects.

A highlight of the conference was the plenary address by Tyrone B. Hayes of the University of California-Berkeley. He gave a narrative of his research and how it led him to look at the effects of atrazine, a herbicide, on people, animals, and the environment.
Friday night also featured a reception hosted by the nearby Arizona Science Center, a part of Arizona State University's Downtown Phoenix campus.

Saturday included two presentations by the SAU contingent. Both were well attended and chock full of comments and questions from the audience. The first of those was a research panel by Wilson and Kardas: Using the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire in Honors College Admissions and Retention: A Two-year Study. The second was by Manandhar, Wilson, and Kardas: An iPad for Every Student in Honors Seminar: A Pilot Program.

Also on Saturday was a riveting flute performance by R. Carlos Nakai. He played music on Native American instruments. That was followed by a dinner and awards presentation. This year, for the first time, student posters were judged. Deborah Wilson served as a judge for the behavioral science posters.

Next year's NCHC meeting will be in Boston. In 2013, the meeting will be in New Orleans. SAU plans to take a busload to that meeting!

Owens, Landon: Beloit List

            There is a larger gap than ever in how professors and students grew up and how they see the world. Much of this is due to the revolution of the Internet and its relative accessibility. Students and professors are constantly attempting to bridge the gap between them in the classroom. The technology, knowledge, and information of our world today are increasing at an exponential rate. As the Beloit University Mind-Set List shows, there are an ever-growing number of examples that point out the differences between professors and students. In some ways professors and students may still find common ground some of their views and thoughts, however, for the most part there a large gap remains.

             

Among the many differences found between professors and students are many of the references that professors make in class. Many students will blankly stare back at them having no idea of what they are talking about. The class of 2015 in particular has never known many of the things that professors of earlier generations grew up with as  fixtures in their everyday lives. These things include having only three TV channels to watch (if they had a TV) and growing up with heroes like Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas. Professors had the opportunity of experiencing the transition to e-mail while students have moved on to faster mediums of communication such as texting and social networking.

             

So many things that our professors were used to seeing or hearing on a daily basis are now outdated or lost. The Beloit List shows just how much is different between the instructors and their students.  It states how “blackboards” are getting smarter referring to the fact that most professors were probably taught by the use of an actual blackboard while there students this year use an online application named BlackBoard for class. So many differences lie in the emergence and evolution of the Internet. It has made the world so much more technology dependent. Professors are struggling to keep up. In the small amount of time from when our professors were born till now, the world looks completely different due to the advancement of technology.

             

Another main difference between students and professors is the change in popular culture over the years. Many professors and students are unable to connect on a deeper level than just through the classroom environment. One of the areas where this is noticed most is in music. Most professors know next to nothing of today’s popular hits while many students are the same with the hits of the past. Understanding each other is tough with such different musical tastes. There also is a very large difference in how schools were run when professors were growing up. Schools today are much different. Today’s students have never had a summer break that lasted till Labor Day and began learning algebra in elementary school. Everything has changed, from what is taught to the difficulty of courses.

            

 In some ways, professors and students are similar. For instance, both professors and students experienced the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This was a major uniting factor between all people who remember that day. Also, students and professors share all of the most recent advancements in technology, such as the smart phone, and tablets. Not to say that they are equally proficient, however.

            

 Students from the class of 2015 and the professors that instruct them have many differences and a few similarities. There is quite a gap between the two and how they grew up and their views on the world. In this day and age with the world changing at a faster rate with each day, there will never be two generations that have more similarities than differences. The relationship between professors and students will never have so much in common that many of them will thank in similar ways.

Lu, Siye: Beloit List

        In the 21^st Century, many things and thoughts have changed. The Mindset List was created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the worldview of entering first-year students. It started with the members of the class of 2002, born in 1980. It clearly shows the dissimilarities between the different years of freshmen.

         

As far as I can see from The 2011 Mind-Set of Faculty (Born Before 1980), what they mentioned are really the old things. For example, they never used libraries as restaurants or coffee shops. They faced real books; they did not “Facebook.” They remember the world without Starbucks, which now has become a part of daily life, almost. They grew up during a time when "like" represented the beginning of a simile, rather than a piece of verbal confetti. They lived more simply because they did not have advanced technologies then. They still had to dial a telephone when they wanted to connect someone else, even if they were facing an emergency.  On the other hand, faculty members born before 1970 are usually willing to help students learn how to pretend to give a damn about their education and are involved in less absentee teaching and learning than their younger colleagues. The goal of the education is still the same. The instructors nowadays still pay a lot of attention to attendance. But now, the relationship between the professors and students is more equal and they are more like friends. They may “Add Friend” a student on Facebook or MySpace, sharing what happened around them whenever and wherever.

            

The Beloit College Mind-Set List Welcomes the 'Internet Class' explains a lot of facts. There is no doubt that life has always been like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get next. This eternal verity shows that some moral and ethical principles do not change. What has changed is the pattern. But the generation gap is still there. Today's students may have no idea about dial phones. To them, Amazon may not only mean the river in South America, but also the most visited online shopping center which almost contains everything they need in daily life. They seldom buy music CDs, instead, they prefer to download their favorite songs from the Internet, then transfer them into their MP3 or iPods. Thanks to the Internet, they always feel close to their friends because of the Facebook and MSN. The Internet is so powerful in modern society and has become more and more useful so that people almost cannot live without it. Now, they can read the news from all over the world and share the ideas with others worldwide. Their schools' "Blackboards" have always been getting smarter. They are the first generation to grow up hearing about the dangerous overuse of antibiotics. They cook by watching the Food Channel. Students nowadays bring laptops to the class instead of notebooks. Everything has been changed since 1980. The lifestyle nowadays must be almost unimaginable and unbelievable to those people who were born before 1980.

          

 However, these changes are the temporary. Just as people now do not use dial phones any longer and use cell phones instead, no one can predict technological breakthroughs. Smartphones will replace the normal cell phones one day. Beyond that, who knows? Technology is always developing and thus people’s life style is changing. In my opinion, what people can do is to adjust to these developments as soon as possible, or drop behind.

Francis, Engelica: Beloit List

Citizens of the United States have experienced many lifestyle changes over the past 20 years: cell phones are now small computers, some cars do not need keys to start, and a Black president sits in the White House. New technology and the latest discoveries seems to cause more change daily. However, within all of these changes remains a consistent foundation of continuity in the roles of both student and professor. This is true of today’s college students and university faculty (born before 1980).

             

A list of the many differences in college life of today’s pupils and professors born before 1980 might start with online courses. One example that pops to mind is the option of taking online courses instead of sitting in a classroom with an actual teacher. Students can now take their portable computers anywhere and work online; they no longer need to wake up ten minutes before class starts and walk in wearing pajamas. If students choose to take a class face-to-face, most of the homework or lesson plans are on the Web. Now, Blackboard software holds Web addresses where teachers can post announcements, homework assignments, lesson plans, and class notes. Gone from the classroom are the traditional blackboard and chalk. Some professors recall that they had to type their theses with typewriters. Now, colleges offer computer labs in almost every building. Today, coaches get paid more than other professors and normally do not have to teach other classes, but they used to be paid the same as other faculty members and had to teach classes as well as coach their teams. This list of changes between then and now could go on forever because of all of the advances in technology.

             

Even though there are an abundance of differences between students from “back in the day” and today’s students, there are still a few similarities. Many classes are still held with a teacher standing in front of a room full of students. Teachers still hold conferences with their students about grades, attendance, mentoring, as well as adving them with their major course of study. Most courses still require expensive books from the campus bookstore, and everything else the bookstore offers remains overpriced. One thing that will likely never change about college life is that college students will still party and make unwise decisions. College, as always, offers degrees to further education as well as “Greek life” where students make connections that might last a lifetime. University traditions (specific to each campus) will always stay the same, because traditions are not meant to be broken; they are highly resistant to change.

             

College life has changed so much from when today’s professors were college students to being a college student today. Even though they differ so much, a few similarities remain. Universities will change with the times as technology advances, but some things will never change.

Plunk, Allen: Beloit List

Growing up in an era of technology has it’s advantages and disadvantages. I can communicate more quickly with members of my generation who grew up playing with the same new devices. But, it is almost like I’m speaking a different language to teachers and instructors who are not familiar with this new technology . During their childhood they didn’t have cell phones, computers, MP3 players, and many didn’t even have color television. Some of them have been able to adapt and accept change and use it to the best of their abilities while remain clueless now than ever before when it comes to the latest technology. In a perfect world, everyone would maintain a balance between technological knowledge and personal communication skills but today it seems that most people posses either one or the other of these traits and rarely does anyone combine these skills. So how do I communicate to a professor and vice versa? Are there really that many differences in the two of us? Maybe the bigger question is are there any similarities between us?

            

 Dictionary.com states that communication is defined as the imparting or interchanging of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writings, or signs. Thus, the first similarity between students and pre-technology age instructors is that both must  figure out a way to communicate to each other because their goals are the same. The education of students is what is important in the college setting.  So both students and faculty should be focused on making it as easy as possible to learn and to teach. The concept that students’ education is the most important issue is another similarity. Because both live at the same time, no matter what their ages, all must pay the same prices for necessities. Gas, food, tobacco, toiletry items, cars, and houses among hundreds of other items are going to be the exact price for all. The current price of gas is the same for all.       

             

While there are some similarities between 45-year-old college professors and a 18-year-old freshmen there are probably twice as many differences between them. Obviously, freshmen have grown up in an environment that is more accepting of homosexual relationships, where music is just one kid star after another, and Apple, not Bill Gates and Microsoft rules the world of technology. Books are almost useless now that there are tablets on which to download digital books. Gas prices being below $2 sounds absolutely impossible and implausible. Wars today can be fought so that the push of a button in one country causes the lives of 10,000 people in another to end. These professors were old enough to understand the full effect that September 11, 2001 had on America. Even though I knew that many people had died and that this was not how the world should be, as a third grader I didn’t have the age and maturity to realize everything that had happened.

           

            When you hold them up side by side it seems the differences between generations outweigh the similarities but I believe that this is only true in the quantity and not the quality of the similarites.  By this statement I mean that the similarities that we have are larger issues and more important than the several small, almost insignificant differences we have in our relationship between our professors. Education must come first in the relationship between a professor and a student and no matter the age of either individual balance and understanding can be achieved.

Jeon, Heekyung: Beloit List

Even after generational change, college education is still considered important, or even more important than the past; teaching and learning have never stopped. Faculty members teach students as effectively as possible regarding what they have studied for their entire lives, and students are willing to learn. College students are not only customers who purchase lectures, but also active participants communicating with professors. This concept has never been changed, however, current faculty members sometimes realize how much everything has changed over the past few decades when looking back on the past and comparing their old college life to the present.

The most noticeable difference between generation X and Y is familiarity with the Internet and other electronic devices. Thanks to considerable improvement in technology, present students take advantage of its convenience. For example, current students bring laptops to class and write lecture notes on computer, which older faculty members never imagined. Students no longer have to sit and write an in-class essay counting 350 words to fulfill the minimum word requirement. Instead, Microsoft Word automatically counts words and changes misspelled words to correct ones for them. They show YouTube videos in their presentation, summarize online news, articles, or journals, use clickers for quizzes and tests, e-mail teachers to notify their absences ahead, read e-books, and talk about new devices released from Apple while taking a break. Some students declare “I cannot live without my cell phone or computer.”

Meanwhile, older faculties are more conservative, learn new technology slowly, and keep their own traditions and old ideas. For instance, some do not have a cell phone or only use it as a means of calling people whereas students cannot keep their hands off their cell phones. They also Facebook, game, text message, listen to music, and watch movies on them. Moreover, some teachers do not allow students to use their laptops in class. They also do not know Internet slang words and spend a lot of time figuring out how to chat with their friends on Skype. They take a long time to find information they want on the Internet, typing slowly and confusingly while looking at the computer screen.

However, faculty try their best to catch up with technologies and adjust themselves to this rapidly-changing society. They try a variety of new teaching methods and choose the best way to be an effective communicator. Instead of writing on the chalkboard, most of them prefer using a big computer screen and showing students PowerPoint slides. In addition, a few clicks of a presentation remote control enable them to teach students more effectively. Also, with the advent of online education, the old thought of emphasizing face-to-face communication between professors and students has changed. Many schools have gradually increased online and hybrid courses, and all course instructions are given via e-mail or Blackboard.

                        

 In spite of faculty member’s efforts, the technology still creates a big generation gap between generation X and Y. However, all generations go through an inevitable generation gap. They should understand one another, accepting that they grew up at different times and have been taught different values. Therefore, respect and proper attitude toward each other would make the world a better place for all to live all together.

Mahelona, Ryan: Bucket List

Many people live their lives putting little thought into their list of decisions. Students are taught that being goal oriented will produce good grades and give them the tools to build a successful life. A bucket list is one physical way to summarize life goals. In the sake of time, I will provide my abridged bucket list.

             

Much of my childhood was spent watching action-packed movies where characters like John McClain and Walker, the famous Texas ranger, sprung into action. These fictional heroes were the inspirations for the first item on my bucket list.

1) Kick down a door

The desired here is the need to do something masculine and awesome to tell my friends about.  

 On to a more serious subject, Item number two on my list is one that many people have and, may even be a bit cliché.

2) Meet Kenneth Joel Hotz

Kenny of the television show “Kenny Vs Spenny” is the funniest person. After watching and re-watching his competitions, I have decided that one day I will make a trip to meet him. 

Third on my list is a goal that I am currently pursuing through my education.

            3) Become Dr. Ryan Mahelona

This goal is most likely the one that will require the most time and work. However, for several years now, my education has been committed to achieve this title through a degree from medical school. 

Second runner up for my list is one that may seem a bit dark or strange.

            4) Save someone’s life that I love, at the risk of my own

People often ask, “Would you kill to save someone you love?” to invoke thought. In my mind I know for my family or the ones I love, I would put myself in harm’s way to ensure their safety. 

Last on the list is a testament to my megalomania.

5) Do something great

In my mind, I see something great, as an action that leaves not only the ones who knew you with a fond memory but for people who have never met you with one.

             

Most of my goals listed here are very achievable. Some, obviously, are more important than others are but everyone’s bucket list has to unique. I will continue to add and complete tasks off my checklist of things to do. Setting our self up for success happens now and in the words of Lawrence J. Peter “If you do not know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

Bowling, Emily: Beloit List

The generation gap has grown. With all the advances in technology people are living much longer. Women also have started having children later in life. There are several generations alive at one time and the differences between them have gotten harder and harder to mend.

In many larger colleges classes are normally taught by graduate assistants. Professors whose names are on the schedule spend most of their time performing research or getting grants for the college. Students may go through a whole semester and never see their professor. Many of these professors remember a time when the average grade a student got was a “C." Instead many students now believe an “A” is the only satisfactory letter grade. Many students stress to get an “A,” but normally do not put in all the effort to truly deserve that high of a grade.

Many professors remember a time when sports were not the reason why many came to college. One professor, who has been teaching for a decade, remembers when living a nice life did not require making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Professors remember when coaches were not getting paid million-dollar salaries. Back then, students actually decided what school they wanted to attend by its educational reputation instead of its football team. Football games took place on campus and were rarely on TV. Students didn’t spend hours before games tailgating to prepare for a game. Many professors still think that “tailgating” means students were following too closely behind another car.

There was a time when students did not have so many distractions. Students used pens and notepads to take notes instead of using laptops or portable tablets. Professors used to get on to their students’ for passing notes in class. Now professors have to deal with students’ addiction to texting. Students constantly surround themselves with technology that, at times, distracts them from being fully engaged in lectures Professors used to hand out assignments in hard copy, now they have to adjust to a technology-savvy world. Professors are now using the Internet and blogs to post their notes and homework. Professors have to adapt to all the new technology to keep their students’ attention and to keep up in this fast changing world.

Today, the world is so fast paced that students are used to everything being urgent or an emergency. Many professors have more of a procrastinator’s mindset. They do not get in a big hurry to reply to students emails even if they are marked “urgent”.  They were raised in a simpler, slower time.

I believe that sometimes the generation gap can help students’ education. They can learn many valuable things from older professors, who are so wise and have so much to offer to educational programs. They can teach students to appreciate their own era and our personal gifts. Students should learn to appreciate the age differences between themselves and the professors and be open to what professors can teach them.

Acharya, Prashant: Beloit List

Suppose you had been in a coma the last 20 years and woke up today. You might be better off slipping back into it than trying to grasp today’s world. It has altered so much that even Arthur C. Clarke himself could not have imagined the changes.

Communication itself has changed. The words “iPhone” can no longer be used as a noun or a verb like in “I will phone, I have phoned.”  Before you went into a coma, schools had coaches who were just other faculty members teaching Health Science or English but no longer. Now, they are professional coaches whose earnings may approach half of a school’s annual budget. Your family might have paid in cash or check for your medical bills when you were first admitted for your coma but now they pay with a simple swipe of a card.

The Beloit College Mind Set List of the entering freshmen (Internet generation) and Beloit College Mind Set List of Faculty Members Born Before 1980 each identifies the gaping hole in the thinking and way of life between these two generations. The college freshmen of today have always known a place to find the answers to all to the questions: “Google”, unlike those faculty members who had to go through piles of encyclopedias and books to squeeze out an answer.

For today’s freshmen, the days of gender and racial inequality have never existed, one could always surf the Internet to download music for free, people always read their news online, and no one bought the printed version.

Faculty members scratch their heads trying to understand the relevance of the E- Channel, the appeal of Kardashians, and the reality show programs depicting people living their worthless lives. Faculty members also vividly remember the days when C was the average grade students received in courses, because it represented an ancient concept called “satisfactory”.

It might surprise freshmen who have always seen American tax forms available in Spanish, always gone school with classmates named Mohammed and Jesus and always seen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on television to hear faculty members say that "Amazon" once only referred to the largest river on the planet, that they only read books in libraries and never used them as restaurants to Facebook from, and that Russia was once ruled by communists who were the biggest threat to the United States. In the past public schools did not have space available for advertising, nor could people buy nearly anything from just the couches at their house.

“Altar girls? They never have been a big deal” might be the typical response one can expect from these freshmen. Playing games has always included annihilating the enemy soldiers with anything from a pistol to a RPG in Call of Duty. To play basketball or football freshmen don't necessarily need to go outside. To make friends, they don’t have to meet and talk with that person face-to-face. They can always send friend requests using Facebook.

Coffee used to be made by a person at his home every morning not just bought down the street at Starbucks. Entering freshmen have always broken up with their partners via texting. They have always seen women kissing other women on television. They grew up in a world where they believe nurses have always been in short supply.

Faculty members born before 1980 remember a world in which people lived entire days without access to bottled water while for the entering freshmen life has always been very different from that of their professors.

Sorsby, Amy: Beloit List

The teacher and freshman of 2011-12 were not raised up differently, but were raised in a different time with different technologies. As a student, I do not realize how someone could be raised without technology, and teachers do not understand what it is like to be spoiled with all the technology we now have. Although teachers and students have some major differences, there is a way to connect each other in order to learn.

            

 Freshmen rely on technology. They have the Internet set up on their phones. Teachers often can barely find anything they need to know on the Internet even if they even had access to a computer. When students do not know the answer, they can simply type it in their phone as a message and send it to Google and then get the answer sent to them in a matter of seconds. Also, they have not been taught to think as teachers were because they have always had something to think for them- calculators, computers, and phones, for example. Students know what they have to do, but they have not been thoroughly taught how to put it on paper and actually write a paper without an Internet tab of information pulled up on the screen along with the paper that they are typing. They have always been allowed to make mistakes and not have to get it right the first time because it does not take long to backspace and redo what they were actually trying to say. Compared to professors, students have always had easy ways to do the hard things they had to do. In math class they can put formula straight into the calculator and get the answer instead of having to write the problem down on paper and working it out step-by-step. A few years ago touch screens became an everyday appliance and they are already so helpful that they are being used in schools to teach students.

            

 Teachers do not fully understand that students can get the same amount of work done in class that they did without having to do the same amount of work. Students also learned how to do what they can by experiencing it, and not hearing what is possible and what is not. When students do not understand what is going on in government and in our country, it is because they have not been through the things that affect what is going on now. When there is a crisis, students cannot connect the present to the past. The history that that students learn in class is the personal past for many professors. When a freshman comes home and asks his parent about what it was like when the races were divided, our parents know because they were a part of the problem or had parents who were a part. America has an eventful past that has forced people to think outside the box and change the world in a short span of time, not giving us students the chance to understand what our professors and parents went through.

             

The lives of teachers and students illustrate a gap in learning. It is hard for teachers to teach things that students cannot understand. Teachers have to connect with each student and each student is different. There is such variety of learners that each student cannot be taught the same way. Teachers have to split up the lesson in order to teach auditory learners, hands-on learners, and read-it-all-yourself learners. The teacher has to put the time in to know what each learner can do with what they are given and how it is given to them.