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So many things that our professors were used to seeing or hearing on a daily basis are now outdated or lost.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.
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