The Potential of Gen Z students

Generation Z students are the first generation to not know what life was like before the internet existed, before being globally connected was just a way of life. This gives them a unique advantage in academics to be able to study and find facts in real time all over the globe, something that I wish I had the opportunity to explore in grade school. It's amazing how Gen Z students are natives to the internet and have the ability to access information that even for me, either the youngest millennial or oldest gen z, didn't even know was possible. I always thought that to be able to access information from another countries perspective, you would have to take a class or seminar specifically on that view point or read a book from the viewpoints origin. While to a certain extent that's still true and a valid way to receive that information, it's also made way easier by knowing how to search for views more specifically online. It would have saved me so much time in grade school to know about the (topic) site:[source] google function, or also by using "-" and "+" to help filter out irrelevant information to my topics. It also would have been so valuable to be encouraged to look at topics from other countries perspectives. Being in America, we all become quite versed in American interpretations on ideas or events to the point where it may become the only way to interpret ideas. By having access to other counties views on major world topics as well, it provides a vehicle for deeper understanding. From a more local perspective that reflects the same idea, what were are different states teaching about the Oregon trail? Washington state is at the end of the trail and by consequence focuses more on the end of the trail, where as a state on the east coast would more heavily detail the beginning of the trail. By having all of these different perspectives, students have a greater understanding of the event as whole more so than they would have had if their understanding was confined to the history of the trail in their state alone. One of the big themes I've noticed in the MIT program so far is the idea of helping students reach deeper understandings, and Gen Z students have the most amazing and unique opportunity out of all the generations to accomplish this.


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