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Educational experiences with Generation Z

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Abstract

The development of the “knowledge society” implies social transformation in which citizens need not only knowledge but also new skills and competencies, some unpredictable, to face new situations. Students of Generation Z are authentic digital natives who are a hyper cognitive generation with different student profiles than before. They are creating pressures for change, and there is a growing competition of universities for global human talent and demand for qualified graduates to do jobs that do not yet exist. Even the very development of technology, which is available to many, has motivated world-class universities to develop innovative programs and new ideas to accelerate and improve the teaching and learning process for knowledge and competencies. One of the most important actions to achieve this is the investment in technological resources to offer new ways of teaching and learning. Technology adds value to the teaching and learning experience, which students exploit widely to improve or accelerate the academic process, but technology can certainly also promote or develop additional skills and competencies. In this research, we present a review of educational technology with examples of current applications performed by different educational institutions. Also, students of Generation Z relationship and preferences regarding educational technologies are presented. Besides, emerging technologies that are being exploited by this Generation Z of students in Higher Education Institutions are identified and analyzed. This research presents the experiences of several successful and innovative cases regarding teaching students of Generation Z.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial and technical support of Writing Lab, TecLabs, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México, in the production of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. E. Garza Sada 2501, 64489, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

    Marcela Hernandez-de-Menendez & Ruben Morales-Menendez

  2. General Motors, Global Research and Development, Warren, MI, USA

    Carlos A. Escobar Díaz

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  1. Marcela Hernandez-de-Menendez
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  2. Carlos A. Escobar Díaz
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  3. Ruben Morales-Menendez
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Correspondence to Ruben Morales-Menendez.

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Hernandez-de-Menendez, M., Escobar Díaz, C.A. & Morales-Menendez, R. Educational experiences with Generation Z. Int J Interact Des Manuf 14, 847–859 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-020-00674-9

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