By PAIGE ARCANO
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — A group of graduate students want to share their insight into Generation Z by hosting a free immersion experience on campus.

Generation Z, also known as digital natives, is the generation after millennials. William McLaughlin, a graduate student studying mass communication and event spokesman, said the age range of Generation Z spans from teenagers who are just entering into college to those in late elementary school. He said those in Generation Z have grown up completely surrounded by media.

“This is the group of students and kids, (that) from the moment they were born to this day, they’ve had the internet, technology (and) those resources constantly around them,” McLaughlin said.

Nine UCM department of communication graduate students have organized the event as part of a graduate seminar course in the fall of 2016, according to a press release. The experience should last approximately 90 minutes.

“Our topic of the whole semester was Generation Z, or the iGeneration, as a lot of people like to refer to them,” McLaughlin said. “We decided to put together an event in the spring as opposed to doing an individual research paper. As master’s students, this was going to be something that evoked more of a challenge, to create more interest from the students themselves.”

McLaughlin said participants will be fully immersed in the event, and this experience will help them understand what it means to be and think like a digital native.

“Through this experience, the participants will learn and process information how GenZers learn,” McLaughlin said. “Participants should be able to challenge any preconceived notions they have of Gen Z.”

McLaughlin said the event is limited to 24 participants so those in attendance get the most out of the experience.

“We capped it at a number we thought would stay organized, but still kind of chaotic for those involved,” McLaughlin said. “We kept it at the 24 (participants) so that the event was still personal and interactive in a way that they didn’t feel like they were at some big seminar.”

McLaughlin said there will be approximately 11 stations, with each having participants learn something new about Generation Z. He said the stations will utilize social media, virtual reality glasses and video games among other things.

McLaughlin said there will be subject matter experts on hand to explain stations and how they relate to Generation Z.

The event is scheduled at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 7, in the Art Gallery Event Center.

“These stations will all individually stand out and teach people about different areas of Gen Z, but they’re all going to connect and home in on what it means to be a GenZer on a day-to-day basis,” McLaughlin said.

For more information or to register for the event, contact McLaughlin at wbm26140@ucmo.edu.