Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Welcome to season nine of Talking elt where we're diving into one of the most important topics shaping classrooms today, Generation Alpha. This four part series explores how this unique generation of learners, born into a world of digital immersion and rapid change, is transforming the way we teach, connect and assess.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: In education, we cannot teach for a moment that doesn't exist.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: They have this entrepreneurial mindset, collaborative mindset, working with others to achieve a shared goal.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: From their unique traits, challenges and super strengths to their evolving social skills and the impact of technology and AI on education, Generation Alpha is redefining what it means to learn and what it means to teach.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: It's all linked to being highly emotionally intelligent. They're adapting to fast, high, stimulating information.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Through insights from our expert guests, Dr. Erica Gailea and Olga Sayer, authors of the recently published book Generation Alpha. In the New Approaches to Learning, the series delves into the neuroscience behind Gen Alpha's learning behaviors, their social and emotional development, and practical strategies for engagement, motivation and classroom connection.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: What's fascinating is that they almost don't need someone to give them information. They're actually hardwired to acquire information naturally.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Together, Erica and Olga bring a powerful blend of neuroscience and classroom experience to this fascinating conversation. In this first episode, we explore who Generation Alpha are, what makes them different from previous generations, and how their brains and behaviors are shaped by the world they're growing up in. Let's jump in.
Welcome. Erica and Olga. Really nice to have you here. How are you?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: I'm fine.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Good.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Thank you for having us.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for coming over. Before we get into this topic, what I want to do is to.
For people to get a better sense of who you are, can you tell us a little bit about what you do and how you got there to what you're doing?
Eric, should we start with you?
[00:02:36] Speaker B: So I started off as a primary school teacher.
So I spent 10 years teaching in a primary school, but at the same time I taught English in an English language school as well for another 10 at the same time, 10 years.
Then I went on to being deputy head in a school and then on to headship.
However, three years ago I finalized my doctorate in the science of teaching and learning, education and neuroscience and and decided to start off my own company business. So I'm the founder and director of the English of the Education and Neuroscience Hub to create awareness on the science of teaching and learning on a national basis in Malta and also Gozo, which is our sister island.
And I'm collaborating with the Ministry for Education at the moment to create awareness on this, since it's part of our national strategy now.
[00:03:36] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: I'm also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta where I train prospective teachers in education and neuroscience and I also have international and national projects going on. Also starting training on an international basis as well.
[00:03:55] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: So you're busy.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Yes, very, very busy.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: Fantastic. Sounds amazing. And Olga, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Yes, Ben, thank you for having me today. Yes.
I've been teaching almost all my professional life.
I trained as a teacher in Moscow, actually. I spent a couple of years teaching very young children in the nursery school. And I then moved on to teaching adults, teenagers. And I pretty much have some experience teaching all sorts of learners and cohorts, which was pretty much traditional, I would say. Then I trained, you know, it was training in a more communicative approach.
And from there I took on digital learning design and kind of got interested in digital learning experiences rather than, you know, face to face classrooms. And also I've trained as a counselor as well. So counseling is also, you know, supports teaching, I think, understanding human behaviors, understanding how we learn through communication, interaction with others. So it's been my pretty much area of interest.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: I think you're also an author as well.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: Yes, well, me and Erica Crawford, the book on teaching Generation Alpha, which is pretty fascinating, right?
[00:05:16] Speaker B: It's a huge milestone we've reached, Olga.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: And so talking about Generation Alpha, can you tell me what first got you interested in this topic?
[00:05:28] Speaker B: So, yes, as parents, as mothers.
[00:05:31] Speaker C: Yes. In the first place.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: That's number one. We started seeing the different ways that our children process information and learn. You know, for example, recently we just had in Malta our final examination. So I was observing also how my daughter studies so differently to how I studied when I was younger her age, you know, using AI to prepare her to prepare exam questions, for example, on the content that she has to study and even the way they process and study, typing out notes instead of writing, you know.
[00:06:11] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: Well, my interest pretty much been similar to Erica's as a mum. Yeah. I have two kids and I can see how differently they process information, how differently they approach learning and how different that process and their experiences are from, say, not just me and slightly older people than them. It's pretty much fascinating. When we talk about Generation Alpha, we talk about children and Learners born from 2010-24. 24.
So it's now moved on to Generation Beta, I think. So the oldest will be about 15 now.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: And even during my workshops that I deliver in Malta.
Teachers were coming up to me and saying, but we cannot reach out to these students. You know, we've noticed that a change in the way they learn, in their behavior, in their emotion regulation as well.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: So they were asking for tips and then we said, oh, okay, this is a good reason. Another good reason as to why, you know, we could research on Generation Alpha and how they learn.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Yes, it's interesting. I mean, one of the things I find fascinating about that is that way that if you're a parent and a teacher, it gives you an added dimension to this. I always find this in the staff room. If you've got teachers who are also parents of children at the school, it gives you a very different perspective on what's happening because you really see the learning from two points of view, what happens in the classroom and what's actually happening at home. So I always think that's. That's really interesting, that dual perspective.
So. So as you now you started to say what. That was going to be my first question.
If people ask, well, what actually is Generation Alpha?
What's the answer to that?
[00:08:15] Speaker C: That's the question people ask when I tell them about the books like, who are Generation Alpha? Well, they are young learners. They are learners born from 2010. I always struggle pronouncing that. 2010. 2010, up to 20. 2014.
So it's pretty much 2024. Yeah, yeah. 2024.
[00:08:33] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:34] Speaker A: So they are all the children in primary school.
[00:08:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: And children in middle school and up to 15.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: Downwards.
[00:08:45] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: So that's Generation Alpha for you.
[00:08:48] Speaker D: Right.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: So kind of up to high school at the moment.
[00:08:51] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: And yes. And it's the way, you know, they process information.
[00:08:58] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Because they were immersed in a world of. Born into a world of modern technologies.
[00:09:05] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: And high flow of, you know, information.
Their brains are wired differently to ours, so they process information differently.
[00:09:15] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: And this is why it's important for educators who. To adapt.
And in fact, Olga and I are not here to reinvent the wheel, but I mean, teachers have their own strategies. They've been trialing and testing for a very long time within the classroom. We're just here to sort of either confirm whether they're on the right track or not, or to give new ways, innovative ways of trying to reach out to this generation as a way to adapt, to make their. The learning and teaching and learning more. More effective.
[00:09:51] Speaker D: Right, okay.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: But now I want to just go back a little bit and I'm thinking, particularly from that neurological point of view, when we're talking about people say Gen Alpha's brains are different in some way. And you, you kind of hinted at that. Could you give us a bit more detail and what you mean by that?
[00:10:12] Speaker B: So I'm going to start off with A quote from McCrindle, who did a lot of research on Generation Alpha 2 besides us. And it goes Generation Alpha, the most materially endowed and technologically literate and formally educated generation ever.
And I always tell educators, we cannot teach for a world that doesn't exist anymore.
Our world doesn't exist anymore. It's past and it's gone. Although there are some traditional teaching methods which still count for today's generation. But we need to also adapt, as we mentioned before. And why?
Because they're digitally rewired due to the fast pace and overstimulation of information as well, they have heightened neuroplasticity. Their constant neuroplastic plasticity is the rewiring of the brain, the neural connections made due to repetitive behavior. So if these Generation Alpha are constantly swiping and looking at Reels and TikTok videos, they're adapting, shifting to fast, high, stimulating information.
They're also dopamine driven motivation. So they have dopamine driven motivation. They tend to be motivated because of the dopamine hits due to technology.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Can you just clarify what that means?
[00:11:48] Speaker B: So dopamine is the brain chemical, the neurotransmitter that makes you motivated, the feel good factor that makes you motivated to keep moving forward, to keep working hard.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: And when for an expected benefit.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Yes.
And Generation Alpha due to the exposure of technology, get these dopamine hits. It's similar to what we feel when we upload a post on any social media and we get those likes or we get that comment, we get a dopamine hit. But these students are getting it all the time with their either social media or technology.
And one thing that educators need to understand too is that when they're at home gaming, these students reach a high threshold of dopamine level.
So when they come into school and they don't reach that same threshold of dopamine level, then they start, they feel bored because they're not getting that dopamine hit that they're getting through their technology.
So this is why educators need to make their lessons very much engaging to get that dopamine, those dopamine hits within the classroom. So now teaching has become more demanding and more exhausting because we're competing with this dopamine.
[00:13:19] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: So I know we're going to come later to ways that we can actually teachers can make the lessons more engaging for students.
But you mentioned also something about that combination of visual and audio stimuli and is that something which is changing as well?
[00:13:42] Speaker B: They're very high in visual spatial skills. For example, one of the games that's a, a very popular game is Minecraft. There you have the visual spatial skills that coming out even auditory now you know, visual and auditory is something that they are too skills that they're using through their technology. So they are adapting to visual and auditory skills.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Olga Sea. If you want to explore the topic of Generation Alpha in the classroom in more depth, you can now get your hands on the book Dr. Erica Gallia and I co authored. We dive into the unique challenges this generation faces and their exceptional strengths. It's all about helping teachers understand and connect with Gen Alpha learners more effectively. And we've packed it with neuroscientific insights and practical strategies you can use right away in your classroom. We hope you enjoy it and find it as inspiring to read as it was to write. See the link in the description for more information.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: So that's really useful. Thank you for that.
Sometimes, perhaps as teachers we're struggling with these students so it would be good to hear some of the positive traits. You know, if you were thinking about Generation Alpha students, what are the positive things you would say about those students?
[00:15:15] Speaker C: Well, again, when we talk about generational for students in the classroom, you might notice that of course, you know, there are challenges, but there are lots and lots of strengths that the students possess. One of them is independence and this sort of self driven learning. And for these students, the digital and real doesn't actually there's no difference between the digital experience and the real experience.
So what's fascinating is that they do not need all don't need someone to give them information. They're actually hardwired to acquire information naturally. So when I notice that in my children, for example, when they don't know something, what they do, they don't ask me, they just go and find it on YouTube. So YouTube is used for educational purposes for, you know, look, how do you create this thing in Roblox? How do you do this and that and the other? So there is this a unique situation where they almost like coach each other. The children of the same age learn from each other, which is a fascinating thing. It's a natural thing for them.
So another thing is that they are because they're so immersed in their digital experiences which requires a lot of interaction exchange with others. So we could see that they have this entrepreneurial mindset, collaborative mindset, working with others to achieve a shared goal.
[00:16:44] Speaker D: Right.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Lots of games are built like that. So when you have to exchange, like you grow, farm together, you gift rare items to each other or you request and, and, and you know, solve tasks collaboratively as a tribe, as a team. So teamwork is actually quite a strong, I believe is a strong trait of this.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: And that entrepreneurial side is, is a kind of openness to doing things differently. Innovation and things like that.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: Yeah, that's pretty much open to innovation. It's linked to the cognitive flexibility which we talk about in the book. Yeah, it's an ability to continuously learn, relearn, adapt to the changing circumstances. So it's one of the strengths as well. And you can see the direct link to the language teaching. For example. These students respond quite well to, with less stress to changing circumstances in games that require this cognitive flexibility where you have to define, redefine, adapt, change your.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Point of view due to all this that Olga mentions. It's all linked to being highly emotionally intelligent. Then because you need, because of cognitive flexibility, flexibility, then they tend to adapt themselves to regulating their emotions because of the adaptability.
[00:18:10] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: And flexibility.
[00:18:12] Speaker D: Right.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: So it's interesting because those, as, you know, those are positive things and you can see how teachers might make use of those. I can also see how they, they can be challenging as well.
[00:18:25] Speaker C: Exactly, exactly.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: The past, you know, the teacher was the source of information.
So people came, the students came to the teacher, but actually now they're used to finding the information themselves.
[00:18:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think the biggest challenge for teachers is to redefine their identity and redefine their role in that classroom. Because I think teachers like myself, for example. Yeah, it was even pre Covid. I'm not even talking about Generation Alpha. It's. It actually started long before that. Is this, this growing feeling of kind of lagging behind a little bit technologically thinking, what is going on? Why are they, why are my students so independent? They almost don't need me anymore to acquire the skills and the language because they can simply find it all online. So I'm not the source of information anymore, not the source of knowledge. And I can see how teachers might find, feel anxious or, you know, question their role. And on the other hand, whilst understanding that is tricky, is definitely tricky for teachers. It's quite a conservative profession. We love being that sort of knowledge providers. Yeah, there is a sense of, you know, it's actually quite pleasant feeling of, you know, being giving and Stuff like that. But at the time, same, same time, whilst recognizing that, I also think is also very positive that the role is changing because I think the students benefit from, still benefit from being guided more than ever. They need our guidance. And the teacher's role as a facilitator is becoming more and more important. Because young learners, of course they can coach each other, but at the same time, this is where their anxiety is because they might think they know it all, they can do it. Deep down, they know they can't really.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: That's where the teacher's role comes in, as the emotion regulator. As well, we know that in AI and modern technologies there's no emotion.
So I think, I believe rather the teacher's role also comes in when it comes to, to human interaction.
And these students learn social cues, social behavior, language, facial expressions and emotion regulation is learned through interaction.
So AI and modern technologies cannot give that, it's human, you know, that can give that connection, the bonding with the.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Students, that social interaction.
[00:21:06] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: Which communication language is all about.
[00:21:08] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: And one thing, Olga, another thing that Generation Alpha works smart, but not hard.
[00:21:15] Speaker D: Okay. Okay.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: That's one thing we cannot forget. They work smart, not hard. They know they have the tools around them.
[00:21:22] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: And they say, okay, I've got all these tools, how can I get to my goal? How can I reach my goal? And the fastest, easiest and most efficient way.
[00:21:32] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: So they use the tools to get there.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: And this is where we're struggling in education with generative AI because that is a tool which can help them get to where they think they need to get to in terms of assignments, etc. But not necessarily where they need to get to in terms of learning and development.
So that, that's, that's one of those struggles that we have.
So we've kind of hinted a little bit at some of the challenges to teachers.
Can we kind of spell them out a little bit? I'm sure listeners probably have their own list, but what are some of the.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Difficulties that generation One of them is, which we will be discussing later on in more detail, is the short attention span due to, for example, having TikTok videos being up to 30 seconds and reels, their brains are getting wired, are adapting to short, you know, snippets of videos.
[00:22:34] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: For that dopamine hit, even, for example, presenting educators.
This is one of the things we'll be discussing later too. Presenting in bite sized chunks of information rather than one whole due to the short attention span. Lessen distractions in the classroom due to the short attention Spans. But there's also cognitive fatigue from generation alpha due to the exposure to so much technology. So there's the constant task switching from one thing to another. I'm on my computer, but then I get a message on my mobile, go back to. To the computer. So that creates cognitive fatigue and over reliance on technology as well.
So that's another.
And that would create brain over stimulation.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:23:31] Speaker B: Over stimulated, which would also create cognitive fatigue.
They interact most of the time online, so then they might have poor offline social skills.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: You see, and, and there comes an emotional dysregulation as well. Because as I mentioned before, emotion regulation is learned through interaction. And if there isn't that interaction, then there's going to be, you know, anxiety when they're offline.
And there's also the sleep and health issues as well.
You know, if they're constantly on their gadgets till late at night, then the sleep cycle, you know, the sleep issues, habits come in.
[00:24:22] Speaker C: Don't get the melatonin, I guess.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Yes, that's right.
[00:24:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:26] Speaker C: No, I just wanted to add what from like my teaching experience.
What is tricky for teachers, I think, is that they're used to instant gratification, instant feedback. It might be tricky to achieve within the classroom because when students are busy doing, you know, the task, what they learn for their experience is that whatever they do, there's instant feedback. There's instant feedback on whether you did it right or you didn't. Maybe the good thing from this expectation is the fact that they don't take the negative feedback as something, you know, negative. They just try again. They're naturally doers, say, if it didn't work, I'll try it a different way. So this I'm noticing, maybe the attitude to say negative feedback, the wrong answer is less dramatic, but they see it as a natural thing. They'll just try again. But at the same time, I think for, for teachers, providing this instant feedback becomes, you know, it's difficult when you have a classroom, obviously. So we need to find ways of still giving them feedback within, you know, what's available to us in the classroom when we teach face to face, especially because if we teach online, obviously, and we have kids, obviously, you can still use emojis. You can use reactions to praise them and give them some feedback and stuff.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Yeah, that's all really interesting.
So one of the thoughts, the questions in my mind when I listen to this is, I mean, to some extent, it's not completely new.
I think, you know, when I was in the classroom, a Long time ago, you know, children had problems with attention and all those things. So would you say that this is, that this generation is.
How are they really distinct from the previous generation generation?
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Gen Z. Gen Z. Gen Z.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: Well Gen Z were digital pioneers. Right. So they had this, you know they were actually growing up not really immersed with technology, with learning technology along the way in the teenagers and so on. So whilst I think the difference, if we talk about differences the Gen Alpha are the digital natives. They're native, they're immersed in technology.
You can see actually videos of babies screaming, scrolling the book, trying to work out how to scroll which is so fascinating. It's all intuitive. Intuitive interfaces and gadgets foster this early independence. Yes, I guess so maybe.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: And perhaps this generation is, is much more in the, in the social media world than the Gen Z, whatever you call social media.
[00:27:18] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: As in that very interactive posting, immediate likes, dislike.
[00:27:27] Speaker C: What I'm noticing is that what games are popular, what experiences are popular but not necessarily big games like say worlds in the online world is this sort of immersive a place where you interact where you there are transactions with other children and I guess that also shapes their expectations and their social skills as well. We'll talk about about that a little bit later. How they're social that not socialized really but that's fast. That's I think where the difference is. It's a natural expectation for connectedness.
[00:28:02] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:02] Speaker C: Natural expectation for independence.
[00:28:05] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:05] Speaker B: In fact to build on what Olga said Gen Z adapted to the technological world whilst Gen Alpha were immersed. It's their environment.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: And another difference would be that Gen Z adapted, changed from analog to digital.
[00:28:30] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: Whilst Gen Alpha were immersed into the digital didn't have to adapt from the analog to the digital.
[00:28:39] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: I was reading somewhere about the shift I think from late 80s to 90s into the 90s of from being play based childhood to phone based childhood.
And, and I feel there's something related here that, that, that the social side of children's development was much more in real life and it's become more online through that, through smartphones basically.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: Yeah. It transformed in a way.
[00:29:11] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:29:14] Speaker A: And can I ask one other question and that's we're using this kind of big generalization. Everybody born between these these years is like this and of course individuals are very different on an individual level. But what about on a. Across the globe are we. Do you have any sense whether the issues we're talking about here are more than just Western Europe? Are they across the world?
[00:29:40] Speaker B: I think it's On a global scale. When I speak to my foreign counterparts in any part of the world, we're always, you know, they mentioned the same traits that Olga and I presented in our book.
[00:29:54] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: So it's on a global scale, I.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: Suppose the factors which are shaping the characteristics are global.
So in that sense, it's not surprising that these characteristics should be global.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:11] Speaker C: Because we are globalized in as well.
[00:30:13] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:30:13] Speaker C: So it's. It would be strange to talk about how our children are not included.
[00:30:18] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:30:18] Speaker C: Because. Because we are. So will they.
[00:30:21] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: I mean, you use the word connectedness and I think that's. That's so good because it's partly a kind of technical thing of being connected to technology, the Internet and all sorts of sources of information, but it's also that connectedness to the other parts of the world to.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: I remember when we were young, we used to have to wait for a certain time to sit in front of the TV to know. To listen to the news, latest news, to see what's happening around the world.
[00:30:52] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: But nowadays my children, if they want to know a particular, you know, news that's happening on the other side of the world, they just get down to their gadget.
[00:31:02] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: Just type in what they want to type in and they have it in front of them. So they have the whole world right in front.
[00:31:09] Speaker C: And it's an interconnectedness. And what I'm also noticing, which is absolutely fascinating, it sounds like there is less division between what children should be interested in, because at their age, what I mean is that I notice interest in politics, classical music, certain interests that we don't necessarily necessarily expect children to be interested in. Now the boundaries are blurring and you can actually see someone, you know, being really interested in what is not really to be a child's interest. I'm not talking about, obviously, adult content, but I'm talking about things that are traditionally not expected from children, like reading, listening to classical music or reading class, classical literature, for example. Because that's become scary cool.
[00:31:57] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: In a way that is fascinating.
[00:32:00] Speaker A: How interesting. So I think this has been really interesting, really useful. I've got a sense, I think, now of. Of what we're talking about when we're talking about Generation Alpha.
I think we're going to wrap up this episode and then we're going to go on to our next episodes. I think we'll go into what this actually means in the classroom, what you can do is teachers, etc. So thank you so much.
[00:32:25] Speaker C: Thank you, thank you.
