Veterans and Baby Boomers

Those born between 1924-1966, they are not attending universities any more, this is why we are not going to discuss here their educational preferences in detail. But still there exists a set of special programs so called “University of the third age.”

Generation X

Those born between 1966 and 1976 are referred to as Generation X. They came into their own during 1988-1994. The kids born in this period were labeled as latch-key kids as they were exposed to lots of divorces and day care centers. This is the generation that had the lowest voting participation. Newsweek commented on this generation as one that was least concerned with social issues surrounding it and it also did not listen to news and other programs on TV. The current population of Generation X stands at 41 million.

This is the generation characterized with a skeptic attitude. They always were concerned with what was there in it for them. They were however the best generation in terms of education and started to form families with care avoiding the mistakes committed by their parents.

Generation Y

Those born between 1977 and 1994 are referred to as Generation Y. This generation is characterized as the most polished and sophisticated with respect to technology. However, it is immune to traditional marketing and sales methods. This generation is racially and ethnically much more diverse than Generation X and is also much more segmented watching own TV programs. This is the generation that has been exposed to the internet, cable TV, satellite radio etc. Generation Y is less brand loyal and is much more flexible than Generation X. It is also very fashion and style conscious. As kids grew up on dual income, they are more involved with family purchases. The current population of Generation Y is 71 million.

Generation Z

Those born between 1995 and 2011 are referred to as Generation Z. Their current population is 23 million but is growing rapidly. This generation has been exposed to high advances in technology and has made use of most of the modern gadgets. The kids of this generation have grown in sophisticated media and computer world and are more net savvy than kids of earlier generation. These are the kids born after the demise of Soviet Union and the Gulf War and so have nothing to do with the Cold War. Generation Z is also referred to as Generation I (Internet) or as generation @ as it remains connected and has got the nickname of digital natives.

This is why when we plan to educate generations Y and Z (I, @) we have to base educational programs on modern information technologies.

As it was told before these generations from one side are very tolerant, but for education they prefer to make their own choice and hate any restrictions and pressure on the subjects. Many of these kids have a lot of different knowledge, sometimes with strange and occasional selection of subjects. Inside this social group there are many children “indigo”, which makes these generations very special.

The situation requires changing of the educational approach in general to make it more attractive to Z-generation students. In Russia it is even more complex problem, because Russian Universities now have to penetrate into the International education system.

So, in general all students get a lot of theoretical knowledge, a set of technical facts, but they are really do not ready to use them to solving certain problems when they start their real job…

The goal is to adapt and transfer current educational system to new system which corresponds better to future industrial “use” of newly born specialists taking into account rapidly changing information media and growing total volume of knowledge in selected field.

Also important to keep students well educated in neighboring fields, and besides that – teach them working as a team, and teach them how to write and speak, and give them main ideas of management – to help them to be more effective in the modern industrial word as soon as possible after the graduation. The ideas graduates have to be both problem solvers and effective communicators which have creative and critical thinking.

3.

NRU ITMO APPROACH

3.1.

NRU ITMO in brief

National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (NRU ITMO) is founded in 1910; Number of students -10000 persons;

Number of professors and additional personal – about 2500 persons

As it is presented in Fig.2, our University has plan to combine traditional education with new approaches, such as project-based education [1].

Students select a project and study all subjects, which are necessary to achieve the project goals.

We consider this as an active educational style, where student decides him/her self what subjects to take and when, depending on the project type.

This gives students a lot of freedom and initiative. They can use different types of education up to their choice: attending lectures, or distant education - it is allowed if they are successful in implementing projects.

In this practical and experimental type of education the priority is given to creativity in solving engineering problems and learning subjects through their practical use.

We call this type of education “Learning without borders” - as students will have no borders: political (they can participate in international projects); without strict educational frames - they follow their own schedule and took necessary subjects; they are also free to participate in the projects with professors and adults researchers - so they are not limited only to students projects. Some examples of projects are given.

Fig.2.

Ratio between traditional and project based programs at ITMO

3.2.

Why ITMO becomes “adaptive” and project based university after accepting this way:

• • Feedback structure

• • Self-regulating structure

• • Self-educating structure

Fig.3

Main scheme