Working with and devising quality educational resources for ‘Generation M’ - today’s group of teens and young adults born in the early 1980s through the mid 1990s - can be a challenge for librarians and instructors who may not relate well to their multitasking, technophile students. Here, editors Cvetkovic (named of one of the ‘2005 Library Movers and Shakers’ by
Library Journal ) and Lackie (the 2006 recipient of the ALA Kenneth Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship) answer the core questions you’ll need to facilitate new and powerful learning opportunities for your Gen M audience, including: Who are the members of Gen M? What is their shared cultural experience and how does it influence learning? And how can librarians and educators best meet this cohort’s educational requirements? Cvetkovic, Lackie and their contributors debunk common myths and misconceptions about this unique generation to provide a realistic understanding of their instructional needs and learning styles. You’ll a comprehensive introduction and overview of Gen M, including key term definitions, background information, and a clear idea of the scope of issues facing educators charged with teaching and working with this age group. A section on the emergent digital community inherent to Gen M examines the personal, sociological, and educational implications and impact on future pedagogy. The authors cover popular online tools like Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, Google, many of which play a large role in Gen M information retrieval, and also address key educational theories and provide instruction for creating lessons and learning objects that can be used in both traditional and online educational environments. Examples of current best practices are provided along with corresponding instruction for designing and implementing them in your library or classroom.