The Educational Needs of the Alpha Generation

Sociologists, pedagogues and psychologists are constantly rethinking the characteristics of the Alpha generation - children born between 2010 and 2025. Technology follows them, shapes and marks them, they are growing up to be the most technologically “skilled” and most educated generation ever. Although Marc Prensky introduced the concept of digital natives back in 2001, it seems that the Alphas are the first true digital natives to understand and speak the original language of digital technology. Educators now face the challenge of adapting the ways they interact and communicate with Alphas, and of adapting the educational system. The assessment of the educational needs of new generations using the criteria and logic of a system that is already obsolete is a complete failure. We must anticipate changes in education at the level of digitalization, virtualization, gamification of teaching, but also at the content level. The European Commission has invited EU members to a strategic dialogue in order to prepare a proposal for a recommendation for successful digital education by 2022. Educational professionals need to communicate with the IT sector, find a common language and integrate it into the curriculum components. The paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of 20 semi - structured interviews in which 10 ICT experts and 10 university pedagogues consider the issues of the future of the educational system as well as the integration of technology into the teaching process. Research results indicate a partial agreement in the vision of the future of computers in education, but also a different view of the role of the educational system, which further emphasizes the need for a dialogue in considering this topic.