알파세대 학생들의 인지적·사회적 특성 탐색 : 온라인 생활을 기반으로

Abstract

Generation Alpha, which has emerged as a new generation beyond digital natives, has grown up alongside digital devices and possesses distinct characteristics that differentiates them from previous generations. As future primary learners, it is necessary to understand their characteristics for designing and establishing educational policies for them. This study explored the cognitive and social characteristics of Generation Alpha students, a new generation of learners in the digital transformation era, based on their online lives. A qualitative case study approach was employed, and in-depth interviews were conducted three times from September to October 2023 with 28 first-year middle school students born after 2010. The collected data were analyzed through an iterative comparative analysis using Atlas.ti 9.0. The main findings are as follows. First, Generation Alpha students’ cognitive characteristics included: visual information-centered online content selection and utilization, content consumption based on recommendation algorithms, strategic content consumption of short- and long-form content, video content-based information search and learning, and high awareness and acceptance of digital tools. Second, their social characteristics included: content-mediated interactions, specialized use of messenger tools according to communication purposes, recognition of the unique value of face-to-face activities and their complementary utilization, expansion of social relationships based on anonymity, and subjective and selective participation in peer culture. This research provides important implications for educational policy development in terms of curriculum design, teaching and learning methods, and technology utilization in education, based on an understanding of the characteristics of Generation Alpha students as future learners.