Born to Be Wired: Technology, Communication and the Millennial Generation

Increasing Enrollment and Retention via Technology: Blending High Tech and High Touch

June 18th – 20th, 2008

Presentation Materials

PowerPoint Presentation (8 MB)
del.icio.us/markgr/millennials

Contact Information

Mark Greenfield
Director of Web Services
Mail Drop: 109 Norton Hall
Office Location: 454 Porter Hall
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, N.Y. 14260
Phone: (716)645-2811
Fax: (716)645-7761
Email: markgr@buffalo.edu

Abstract

The ongoing communications revolution combined with the coming of the Millennial generation and their love of technology will have a profound impact on college campuses. For the Millennial generation, the Internet is now the hub for all their activities which will increase the importance of university Web sites. Millennial students (and their parents) are behaving as customers who actively compare programs and services to make choices on their college education. Their expectation is a 24/7 service culture – always on, always connected – anytime, anywhere.

Part economics, part sociology, and part IT, this presentation will provide historical context for the communications revolution, an overview of the characteristics and traits of the Millennial generation, and a review of the communication technologies that appeal to Millennials including IM, Blogs, RSS, Podcasting and text messaging.

Recommended Books

Cairncross, Frances. The Death of Distance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2001
Duderstadt, James. A University for the 21st Century. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000
Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005
Howe, Neil and Strauss, William. Millennials Go to College. 2003
Howe, Neil and Strauss, William. Millennials Rising. New York, NY: Vantage Books, 2000
Levine, Rick and others. The Cluetrain Manifesto. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001
Li, Charlene. Bernoff, josh groundswell. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2008
Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2002
Warlick, David. Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing, 2004

Videos

The World is Flat

Tom Friedman speech from MIT (video)
Online NewsHour: Tom’s Journal: American Jobs in India (Interview with Tom Friedman on outsourcing American jobs)
Why the World is Flat (Interview with Tom Friedman from Wired Magazine)

The Millennial Generation

Generation Next (from PBS)
Educating the Net Generation (from Educause)
Teens and Technology (PDF – from Pew/Internet)
The Internet at School (from Pew/Internet)
The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools (from Pew/Internet)
The Net Generation and the School
Teen Content Creators and Consumers (from Pew/Internet)
The Information Age Mindset (PDF)
State Legislators as Co-Pilots (From the Chronicle – subscription required)
Putting Parents in their Place: Outside Class (From the Washington Post)
The Key to Competitiveness: Understanding the Next Generation Learner (From Educause)
The State of Our Nation’s Youth 2003-2004 (PDF – From the Horatio Alger Association)
The Multitasking Generation (Cover story from Time Magazine – March 27, 2006)
Generation Next (From PBS)