N-Gens of change: personal response systems and Net-Generation students

Personal Response Systems are a technology similar to use to a television remote control or a mobile telephone for sending SMS messages. They enable almost instant communication between student and instructor in lecture situations. This paper examines the claims made by Personal Response Systems and considers whether they may be especially appropriate to the preferences and expectations of Net- Generation students. The Net-Generation (also known as N-Gens) is made up of students born between 1981 and 2001. They now make up the bulk of finance students in universities across our region. But have we really adapted our lecturing styles to meet their needs? This paper explores how N-Gen students’ learning behaviours and expectations are different from the generations preceding them and reflects on one possible way of adapting our teaching styles to better meet their learning needs.