By David Healey

This blog post shares the results of a voluntary survey of composition students about generational differences and perceptions in the classroom. To provide context, there are definitions of the generations and some of their shared experiences and traits. Suggestions are made for instructors who want to deepen these connections between generations in the online classroom while helping students prepare for the intergenerational workplace.

Back when I taught composition classes at the local community college, I could usually pick out the home school or high school students right away. They were being given the newfound freedom to drive to campus and take a college class or two. They tended to be more baby-faced and, dare I say, more polite than the worldly 18- or 19-year-olds who made up the majority of the class. Then there were the adult learners, often one or two in every class, who sat up front and raised their hands to answer every question while the more traditionally aged students scrolled through their phones in the back row. Given the range of ages and experiences, it didn’t always feel easy to unite the classroom or even meet the needs of everyone there.

Nonetheless, it was so much simpler to tell who was who with the students sitting right in front of me. Now that I teach online classes exclusively, I usually don’t see the students and don’t know their ages unless they self-identify or opt to turn on their camera during seminar. In a single term, I might once again have some home school students in their teens and a student in his early seventies. How well am I meeting their needs?

In a single online classroom, there might be a mix of generations defined as baby boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1981), millennials (1982-1994), and Generation Z (1995-2014) (Bump, 2014). Although generalizations have their own perils, it’s probably safe to say that each group brings unique experiences and communication styles to the classroom and the workplace. There’s a difference between a digital native who grew up with the Internet (here’s looking at you, Gen Z and millennials) and a digital immigrant who remembers comic books and Mad Libs on long car rides (which is how boomers and Gen Xers learned their nouns and verbs, along with a little help from Schoolhouse Rock during Saturday morning cartoons).

That last point leads me to shared experiences across generations. I struggle with the fact that some students weren’t around during 9/11 or that they consider President Obama to be a historical figure. Just for fun, I usually share a picture of my old Underwood during seminar and ask students to identify this “unusual object.” Everyone knows it’s a typewriter, but fewer and fewer students remember using one. Changes seem to be coming ever more rapidly. For example, what will artificial intelligence (AI) mean for students who are mid-career or just starting a career? These are new tools for all of us to learn. In fact, I used Gemini to help summarize the survey results and even generate some insights (Google, 2025), so perhaps an old dog of a writer can learn some new tricks.

Recently, with input from my department chair, Dr. Michael Keathley, and our university’s Writing Across the Curriculum Advisory Committee, I undertook a voluntary survey across three terms of my online students in Composition I. The results sometimes reinforced what I thought I already knew, but there were also insights that we as instructors can use in teaching across generations. There were just 23 respondents across three terms, with the majority taking online college classes for the first time. Most of the respondents identified as being Gen Y or Gen Z. It’s interesting that in a 2018 voluntary survey of faculty, most identified as Gen X.

Let’s dive into what students had to say about learning across generations. Here are some of the key points that emerged, along with specific comments from survey participants (Google, 2025). There’s not enough space here to present all the results, but you may view them here.

Several students weighed in on the challenges of online learning across generational lines. One student commented, “I would say that if anything, baby boomers may have the most challenges in regards to communicating online as they tend to be more used to traditional school or in-person communication.” Another wrote, “I think Gen X and baby boomers are less technologically advanced in general, making some tasks more difficult for them.” A slight majority perceived that their classmates approached writing assignments in ways that reflected generational differences. Again, these are student perceptions, but it’s an interesting question to consider how this bias plays out in the classroom and workplace.

Some positives that stood out for me were how students embraced the idea that one generation can learn from another, and that this learning flows in all directions. One student commented, “I think it’s important to get to know communication preferences of all generations to be able to foster a positive workplace and classroom culture, as it will result in stronger connections.”

Across generations, respondents (42 percent) had two key concerns. They said that they struggled with their overall tone when writing. These students have good instincts that tone matters. After all, Hall indicates that respectful communication ultimately counts for more than the method of communication (2016). The other area of struggle concerned using AI tools effectively and ethically. As an instructor, I found these concerns especially helpful in shaping seminar and discussion board conversations.

Another positive that stood out from the survey was that students overwhelmingly prefer the one-hour live seminars rather than listening to a recording or a hybrid approach (recording and office hours). When it comes to the connection that comes from the live seminars, there didn’t seem to be any generational divide.

Although teaching across generations can be challenging, it’s also engaging. There is a case to be made for the benefits that come from generations working together and learning from one another. Thomason et al. (2023) found that the successful multigenerational workplace requires new ways of thinking about organization and hierarchy that provide individual employees with more decision-making power, empowering younger generations. While Francioli et al. (2024) observed tension in particular between millennials and baby boomers in the workplace, their research noted encouraging results when negative generational generalizations were discouraged. It’s possible that working together in the online classroom can set the stage for workplace success. Why not make these fundamentals and positive attitudes toward intergenerational collaboration part of the classroom conversation?

One of the points I shared during my Purdue Global 2025 General Education Conference presentation on this topic was that students, overall, can arrive at a better understanding of effective writing in preparation for more advanced classes and ultimately for the workplace when writing instructors prompt these intergenerational discussions. The generational landscape in online college classes will continue to change, of course, with Generations Alpha and Beta waiting in the wings. They will be truly digital natives in the use of AI tools. What innovations and ideas will they bring, and how will writing change? It’s exciting to think about.

References

Bump, P. (2014, March 14). Here Is when each generation begins and ends, according to facts. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/03/here-is-when-each-generation-begins-and-ends-according-to-facts/359589/

Francioli, S. P., Danbold, F., & North, M. S. (2024). Millennials versus boomers: An asymmetric pattern of realistic and symbolic threats drives intergenerational tensions in the United States. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 50(11), 1546–1562. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231164203

Google. (2025). Gemini (2.5 Flash) [Large language model]. https://gemini.google.com/

Hall, A. (2016). Exploring the workplace communication preferences of millennials. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications & Conflict, 20(1), 35-44.

Thomason, S. J., Weeks, M. R., & Galperin, B. (2023). An exploratory analysis of generational differences in the World Values Surveys and their application to business leaders. Ethics & Behavior, 33(5), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2022.2086872