Higher Education and Students

Millennial and the new Gen Z

This research involves a comparison between the Millennial and Gen Z. generations. Other research topics include the distinctions between communication and technology, an evaluation of online communication among Millennial Colleges in the modern world as well as the adjustments required in order for them to communicate with people of Gen Z, to maintain their competitiveness in the field of virtual higher education. Another issue that has been thoroughly discussed is Gen Z's as Gen X'ers offspring and Millennials as Baby bloomers' offspring.

The Gen Z's that are upcoming; those born between the mid-90s and 2007 mostly include youth who have been raised with computers, cell phones and internet. They are dependent, savvy and have complex knowledge of technology. In addition, they have grown up to be introduced to smart phones. This generation has financial concerns due to doubts concerning student loans and an economy that is souring (the 1990s-2000s tech bubble along with the 2008 recession caused by the meltdown of home mortgage), the war against terror and 9/11. In addition, they have been infected with the culture of PC usage among colleges. This generation has diverse people, most of who are still living in their parents' homes. This makes them part of a share type of economy, which has share platforms such as Uber and Airbnb among other internet concepts that define them both economically and socially. They depend on internet services for basically all they do; research, socializing, and planning, shopping and even booking tickets. Gen Z's are the first people to genuinely experience the digital world. They are allowed free branding, taking part in a Big Data system which has companies attempting to harvest their habits in order to determine how they can be marketed in a marketplace that is uneven. They are aware and receptive of the drill; this generation has grown up under Big Brother/ Big Government overreach, where Homeland Security, NSA and TSA all appear usual to them. This generation is distinct from Gen Y, since Gen Y, also known as Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) has greater "immunity to many of the traditional sales and marketing pitches" (WJS, 2015).

The Millennials have also been raised during the PC era, but they are more responsive to "cultural" aspects that come from the advanced left such as acknowledging the rights of the LGBT community. They also need to grow a little more with the growth of the web. For this reason, advertisers have to use a unilineal consumer behaviour model for the purpose of advertisement and development. The model has an organized sequence showing the variables, something that the previous models did not have. For instance, Lavidge and Steiner (1961) suggested, and Palda (1966) supported a model that showed the hierarchy of impacts.. Another model for processing information on the effectiveness on advertising was suggested by Mcguire (1969). The models have an impact flow that is unilineal, showing the model's variables (Mullen & Johnson, 1990, n.p.). This millennial generation has had quite some experience in the marketing field, but they still label themselves as a little older, such as independent, liberal and conservative (Iacosta, 2015).

A. Lavidge and Steiner (1961) "Hierarchy of effects" model

B. Mcguire (1969) "Information processing model of advertising effectiveness."

Fig: Examples of unilineal models of consumer behaviour (1960 to 1967) (Mullen & Johnson, 1990, n.p.)

To stimulate the customers' brand or purchase choice, the brand can be connected to a personal or engaging issue, through accentuating the distinctions between brands as well as emphasizing on the fundamental features of that brand, and clearly explaining how the brand works. There can also be creation of a lifelong relationship with customers (Bloemer & Kasper, 1995, p. 326).

Purpose of Study

Technological advancements have led to alterations in teachers' teaching methods, and the relation among experts in the corporate world (Gibson &Sodeman, 2014, p. 63). This paper analyses the similarities and distinctions between the two generations. It discusses such topics as:

• the connection between Gen Y and communication and technology, • evaluating Gen Y's current online communication with Colleges'

• Adjustments required for Gen Z's and Millennials to communicate in order to maintain competitiveness in the field of virtual higher education

• The issue about Gen Z's as Gen Ears offspring and Millennials as Baby Boomers offspring.

Millennial Generation and Technology

An entrepreneur known as Russ Warner, (2013) says "They have been raised with technology, which they have adopted to using 24/7. The Gen Ys are so dependent on technology that 50% of them are willing to sacrifice breathing just to keep a crucial device." (cited in Gibson & Sodeman, p. 66) such scholars as Chelliah & Clarke (2011) state that the Gen Y's have "witnessed the growth of an ever-present, pervasive access and connectivity to capture, prepare, pass, and then receive data using many devices (portable wireless computer, hybrids of PDA-phones, smartphones and modern portable gaming devices) at any place and time, something that has never happened before." The growth of sites for social networking like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin has brought this generation closer together (cited in Gibson &Sodeman, 2014, p. 66). The Spring 2011 Cassandra Report by Intelligence states that 29% of a selected group of American Millenial trendsetters (currently at the age of 14-34 wish for the brands they like to have outdoor ads communication means, 32% through social media and 32% through TV advertisements. In addition, customers can now be entertained through smartphone apps, hence advertisers can also use them for outdoor communication (JCDecaux, 2012, p. 11)

Kirkwood & Price (2005) state that the technological culture among millennial students affects their approach of higher education; their needs from the curricula and their methods of transfer of knowledge (cited in Gibson & Sodeman, p.66). Nonetheless, Franz (1998), Gardner (2006), Chelliah & Clarke (2011) state that this generation expects that technology should largely enhance the process of learning, by allowing them to access many areas to get sources of information, which they can integrate into the real process of passing knowledge with the help of multimedia modes that incorporate entertainment as learning takes place (cited in Gibson & Sodeman, 2014, p. 66).

Significance of the Study

Oblinger (2003) states that College educators, particularly, face their own special problems while working in the modern-day college environments. The use of old teaching and course preparation methods is not exactly the best way for college teachers in most cases, if the teachers want to understand the interests of the modern-day students (cited in Porter, p. 7). With the changes brought by student bodies based on the expectations of students, there may be a great advantage among the instructors, since they can analyse the sophistications among their own students. This will help them further comprehend what exactly the goals of their students are, from going to college. For instance, students may be hoping to achieve some purpose from being part of higher education (Porter, 2007, p. 7). Hence, this paper analyses the approaches used by online Colleges as well as the adjustments they need to make for future communication, to maintain competitiveness in the field of virtual higher education. This is with regard to the two generations under study.

Comparison and Contrast of Millennials and Gen Z

In the last 15 years, America has seen the rise of mobile phone and internet usage, and the Gen Ys have been quite excited with the technological growth. Older Millennials outpace Americans in almost every kind of cell and internet use (Pew Research Center, 2010). Pew Research Centre (2010) states that the Gen Ys may also be the most learned Americans -- the outcome of a "current world insight-based economy" as well as recruitment of millions of grad school students in their twenties, mainly since they are unable to get employment. Among those between 18 and 24 that were surveyed, about 40% joined college by 2008; a very large share.

While, the Gen Zs are more realistic and pragmatic than Gen Ys, they are seen to be more loyal and responsible, and they are hardier, since they have already learnt how to deal with tough times as they grew. The millennials were raised during an era of success, peace, and a time when the concept of internet was still new. At that time, there was budget surplus. This led them to think that after college, they would definitely get employed, and that they could move from their jobs to better ones if they were unsatisfied. This, however, only came true for the older Millennials. The Gen Zs are aware that getting employed is difficult, and they are likely to stick to their employments for quite a long time (Siegel, 2016).

Fig. 1 (Tulgan, 2013)

The Millennials, however, "the Americans in their twenties and teenage that are beginning a new phase of adulthood with the coming of the net millennium," are known as the very first generation to be "always-connected," deep into social media and digital technology. Pew Research Center (2010) says, "They treat those portable, multi-tasking devices as though they were body organs -- for better, for worse. Over 80% sleep next to their cell phones in order to text, make calls, email, watch videos, play games, listen to music read news and even use them as their alarms." Spurgeon states that the use of cell phones in the modern world "is a way of communicating electronically to a wider range of people than there has ever been before.. More than 50% of the people using telephones worldwide now have portable voice connections." (cited in Ifigeneia, 2015, p. 19). Millennials are the leading enthusiasts of technological growth, and are better than older American people in the use of technological gadgets. They get information from social media and technology as "their social ecosystem," and for a "sense of generational belonging," which makes them different from other generations (Sessa, 2015, p. 5).

Nonetheless, the Gen Zs use technology differently. Gen Ys love social sites and spend most of their time on Facebook. The Gen Zs are more private. They may be on these social sites, but they are more about following than posting. They use Twitter and Instagram for following, but use such short-term sites as Snapchat, where they can put temporary posts. Facebook, for them is for such purposes as communicating with grandparents. They feel like adults dominate Facebook, so they do not use it for socialization. This has made them resort to other sites, which they are bound to move away from when adults join them.

Corey Seemiller discovered that the Gen Z. students may cling to their cell phones, but they are more interested in meeting people than communicating online. This finding was quite surprising, since they are assumed to be more interested in online communication than meeting people, since they are always texting. However, we are probably denying them the chance to socialize face-to-face through the many alternative communication methods. Shopping online instead of visiting a store, checking out instead of communication with a cashier, online banking, and online classes instead of personally meeting; these advancements have reduced the level of face-to-face interactions. This is not what the Gen Zs really want. Just like the older people, this generation will have to figure out how to interact face-to-face (Siegel, 2016).

It was also discovered that the Gen Zs are more interested in working individually and being self-reflective than working in teams or groups. In the higher education field, the system seems greatly interested in grouping students. "Form groups and do the following...," "Work in teams for..." Group work may be efficient and helpful, and a way to prepare students for future team work, but it is too monotonous. The students of Gen Z. wish for time for self-reflecting before they can share ideas in groups. They wish to do their own writing before participating in group projects. There should therefore be a balance set between individual and group work in order to offer better services to students, both in co-curricular and curricular activities (Siegel, 2016).

Online Colleges' Communication with Millennials Currently

With every passing year, there have been studies proving that blogs, Twitter, podcasting, Youtube and Facebook were the top sites used in the higher education sector of the U.S. Studies have shown that there are three major roles played by social media including recruiting students, investigating more about where they are learning and identifying where they are learning. The findings by NACAC have also shown that social media is used in colleges to recruit students and for promotion (Sessa, 2015, p. 5).

The 2009 "Reaching the Wired Generation: How Social Media Is Changing College Admission," report by Nora G. Barnes includes the most successful practices for social networking in higher education. They use video in seeking attention and passing information, use of a consistent streamlined design which reflects school themes, layouts and colour, and linking social media sites using an institution's homepage, and the other way around; soliciting content and input from different sources such as staff, students and faculty in order to represent many viewpoints, posting achievements, providing a platform for interaction of the page with visitors through message boards, animation, giveaways among others and keeping the site regularly updated (cited in Sessa, 2015, p. 5).

Currently, ICTs penetrate classrooms worldwide at a very fast rate. This has led to teachers having a challenge in teaching a generation that is wireless yet so wired, with the modern technological growth (IEAB, 2008). The Gen Ys are great influencers of education. To begin with, Gen Y students have made learning institutions change their teaching and communication methods. They have introduced a foreign generational personality, involving teamwork, optimism, structure and courage caused by their entitlement. Teachers are trying to find a way to control the high feedback and engagement levels required by the students.

There are institutions which are trying to create a learning environment that is less formal, which combines practical group-based learning with structured learning. The Gen Ys want an academic path that is clearly structured. They wish to be treated differently and out rightly ask what to study in preparation for exams. Their professors think that they wish for entertainment by their educators. The educators are also confronted by Millennials about the significance of their assignments and their grades. However, not every student is on campus, with the establishment of online learning in universities and college, something which they find greatly significant in their effective strategies. Online learning is growing fast with a 31% rate in higher education (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 2016). The 2015 Online learning survey showed that more than 5,800,000 students participate in one or more distance learning course(s). This makes about 30% of the overall number of students enrolled in USA. More than 2,800,000 students are solely online learners (Silverthorn, 2016).There is also renewal of brand policies in advertising, due to the dynamic nature of consumer behaviour. It is of great importance that a brand maintains its continuity and heritage. However, there is still a need for strong brands to continue renewing themselves in the modern world, in order to fit in with the upcoming generation of customers. This is because, just as in the learning process, the upcoming generation of customers does not recognize those names that were previously great (Aaker& Biel, 1993, pp. 18-19).

Changes Required by Online Colleges to Communicate with the Gen Z's in order to stay Competitive in the Online Higher Education Field

The Gen Zs are real digital people, who have lived all their lives around smartphones and the internet, and use them to get information. Being the Gen Xers children, they were raised during the 2008 recession. This is according to U.S. demographer, economist and historian, economist Neil Howe. First, they will have to struggle to get jobs, since the world's economy is currently full of challenges, he continues to say. There are also many disruptions in universities, states Mr. Worzel. Many universities are offering massive accessible online courses, "hence you can access any undergraduate MIT course online, free of charge," he continues (White, 2015).

According to Susan Mccahan, the Toronto University vice-provost of undergraduate innovations, universities acknowledge the future problems that Gen Zs are bound to face, and they are looking for ways to ensure the students are successful. "There are people who take this as a scary moment due to the disruptions that are taking place, but I personally think of it as a great opportunity." She states that innovations like MOOCs are important since they will make universities concentrate on the importance of university education (White, 2015).

"Higher education is going to play a role not just in passing knowledge, but also in ensuring that students get feedback that is of high quality, while they advance their cognitive ability, which will help in the upcoming world that is highly competitive," states Dr. Mccahan. "Critical thinking, creativity and the capacity to create unique problem-solving strategies, communication, teamwork," she continues. "We continue to acknowledge that those types of transferable skills are as significant as what is being taught." "Manitoba University, with the aim of value addition to the academic programs it offers, concentrates on five sectors to ensure they go beyond passing of knowledge," states the students' vice-provost Susan Gottheil: internships and co-op, community and service education programs, student enterprising programs, international programs for mobile students and interdisciplinary projects. The Alberta University deputy registrar, Melissa Padfield, talks about a program in the university known as eHUB, which is an enterprising program that allows free entry for all its students. It is an extra-curricular program, but it greatly enhances their capability of being successful after school (White, 2015).

The use of such online platforms as Blackboard and Canvas have already been taken up in programs of Organization Development, but recent studies courtesy of Bowen, Chingos, Lack, & Nygren (2013) proves that online education works as effectively as the traditional method of teaching. This view encourages the growth of online education. In order to deal with technological advancements, the Horizon Report of 2014 indicates the possible solutions that teachers can execute to help advance student success as they use recent technology. The idea of flipped classrooms has not yet been fully endorsed in literature. However, it has begun to grow due to the observed success by students. This notion involves spending class time for group work and assignments for problem-solving, rather than the traditional way of teaching (Gibson & Sodeman, 2014, p. 69).

Susan Bens, the curriculum and program development strategist in Saskatchewan University has also talked about these inverted/flipped classrooms, stating that it is a good example of the improvements brought by technology in the relationship between students and educators. "Flipped classrooms avail lectures beforehand," she states. "Educators post them before they teach, so when students meet their professors, they are able to participate in learning strategies that are more active than listening" (White, 2015). Educators have adopted a new method known as gamification. This concept has game-like basics and incorporates it into the traditional methods (Gibson &Sodeman, 2014, p. 69).