Eastern Kentucky University Professors Connect With Generation Z | WEKU

Faculty at Eastern Kentucky University are finding ways to connect with students known as Generation Z, reports Cheri Lawson, Morning Edition Host and Reporter.

EKU's Dr. Beth Polin prepares students for exam.
Photo: Cheri Lawson

The Gen Z-ers are sometimes referred to as “digital natives.”

On a recent Tuesday at EKU, Tanner Gillispie wearing a plaid shirt and sitting in the third row of Dr. Beth Polin’s class is taking detailed notes for an upcoming exam.

Tanner’s using a pen and notebook, rather than a computer or his phone to take notes because Dr. Polin insists. Tanner says when he’s not in class he’s looking at his phone a lot.

Tanner says, “Outside of the classroom setting I’m probably on my phone, I’d have to say thirty or forty times an hour. Talking about a day I’d say I probably look at my phone seven or eight hundred times.”


The 21-year- old is part of Generation Z, people born from 1995-2010. This generation spans most of an entire educational system.

The Generation Z-ers characterize themselves as loyal, responsible, and determined according to Dr. Corey Seemiller, generational researcher, associate professor at Wright State University, and author of 4 books about Generation Z. Seemiller says, “This is the first generation that has grown up where before they were even born they had a digital footprint.”...

There are strengths and weaknesses with every generation says Assistant Professor of Management at EKU, Dr. Beth Polin. She says this generation tends to trade accuracy for speed since they communicate more through social media. Some people see continuous engagement with social media as a weakness. She says, “The way this translates into a strength is: they want to be involved. Every generation has its big world problems that have to be solved. They don’t want to miss out on being part of the solution.”
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Source: WEKU