Students have been tagged as unserious and unready to learn, particularly in Nigeria where the rate of failures of terminal exams continues to be alarming. A primary school pupil is more likely to know the lyrics of the favorite’s musician song better than they know their multiplication tables in Mathematics. Born into the age of smart things (from 1995-2012), the students in primary school today are part of the Generation. Z and one distinguishing factor of the Gen Z is that they are pretty smart. People belonging to the Gen Z exhibit certain characteristics which have implications for their learning.

1. They have access to information: Thanks to the internet and Search engines, they are able to access information very easily.
2. They have a short attention span: Because they exposed to a lot of information at a time, they tend to spend a shorter time on a single information.
3. Preference for multimedia over text: They rather watch a video than read a book or listen to audio.
4. Preference for Fast-Paced Activities: For Generation Z, everything moves at the speed of light and so activities based on such are most welcomed by them.

The implications for their learning include:

1. Access To Information Makes Them More Inquisitive: As a teacher, it is not uncommon for you to find your students asking you questions that you probably had not thought when you were their age. Don’t blame them, they have access to several information in the digital world, sometimes faster than you their teachers. Therefore as teacher, in order to effectively educate a Generation Z child, you need to constantly develop yourself and stay connected to happenings. Social Media is one of their main sources of information and so you have to be on these social media platforms to be informed.
2. Research shows that a child between 5- 7 years old is only able to concentrate on an activity for 10-15 minutes, while those between 8-10 years old can go for 15-25 minutes. This is rather short as most of our classes are longer than these said times and teachers have to struggle to keep the children focused throughout the whole time. Based on the above, it is important for teachers to insert breaks or activities during their classes to ensure that they don’t loose the attention of the students who may consider the class as boring when they can no longer concentrate
3. The Need for Other Sources of Information: The tradition of using books in schools is beginning to disenchant students who belong to the Gen Z as their preference for Multimedia become really obvious when they are given books in black inks on white papers. Other sources of information should be introduced such as videos, pictures, artworks and if it has books to books, they must be visually engaging, filled with images and illustrations.
4. The Need For Activity: Sitting still listening to you as a teacher might prove a difficult tasks for your student who are mainly children and have loads of energy. Teachers should endeavor to include physical activities, interaction and team work (working in small groups) in their classes to make the class more engaging.

Educating a Generation Z Child is obviously a different ball game which may prove challenging but is definitely attainable.