Management education for digital natives in the 21st century

Abstract

The paper represents the results of the collaborative research of the peculiarities of digital natives in management and marketing education. The research has been conducted by authors at two universities: Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg, Russia) and Kodolanyi Janos University (Budapest, Hungary). The research is aimed to define peculiarities of new generation of students called digital natives both in the sphere of education and communication. The presentation specifies key features that distinguish modern students from their predecessors and offers new education and communication technologies that should be used with digital natives. In the 21st century, the era of technologies and globalization, the ways of perception and processing the information have changed dramatically. Children and adolescents got used to searching for any information they need in the Internet and they want to obtain the information as soon as possible. So nowadays to educate students efficiently we need to take into account this change and apply new educational technologies that allow us to use the advantages of the digital natives' thinking and to develop the skill of analytical or linear thinking. The methods applied include sociological poll and its quantitative analyses as well as in-depth interview with students and tutors. The authors also applied methods of observation and scientific analyses, researched scientific papers devoted to digital natives. As the research shows digital natives are characterized with clip thinking, impulse decision-making, quick information analyses but inability to make analytical conclusions. Hence appropriate educational technologies and forms for digital natives should include practical education (particular practical tasks related to the profession or real life), information technologies (starting with presentations and ending up with AR and VR technologies), certain aspects of gamification (for example in assessment or task formulation) as well as complex complicated tasks that require both information analyses and independent judgement.