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Letting Gen Y be the teachers
February 2nd, 2009 by Mike Knutson
I’ve advocated previously that building personal relationships with members of Gen Y is a strategy rural communities can use to help eliminate the out-migration of our young people. If your community is interested in this strategy, you should consider the approach of this Dutch non-profit, which helps young people teach adults how to get the most out of their cell phones.
Years ago, I taught computer classes in a community education program. Because I had too many adult students enrolled in the class to effectively teach by myself, I invited some of my high school students to server as teacher aids. At the time, I didn’t see the class as an opportunity to connect young people to adults. In retrospect, I wish I would have invested my prep time into training the kids to lead rather than doing it myself.
If your community wants to consider a program of this nature, I’ve got a few more recommendations:
- Consider hosting the training in a coffee house or some other “third place.” A more relaxed setting should help foster the development of personal relationships.
- Make sure the kids are leading, not just helping (remember Gen Y want real responsibility).
- Structure some of the learning around activities that help adults and youth learn about each other. In other words, get them to talk about some non-technical stuff.
- Consider other forms of technology training. For instance, I think a lot of adults who want to understand what social media is all about.
Developing a program like this won’t be quick and easy, but I believe it will pay off years down the road when Gen Y is deciding what community they should call home.
Tags: Gen Y, millennials, outmigration, technology training, third place, web 2.0
Posted in Community Engagement, Gen Y, Rural, Youth | Comments (
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