The generation gap and teaching and learning strategies for elementary education: A futuristic approach

The world of the future will coincide with dramatic and unprecedented developments in the fields of science, technology and information transmission. Living in such a world creates a large gap between the emerging generation of learners called the "Generation Alpha" and previous generations, making conventional learning methods inefficient. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of the emerging generation of learners and design appropriate teaching and learning strategies in elementary education. This research is based on the qualitative meta- analysis method using conventional content analysis by Atlas.ti8 software. In the results section, in the first step, the characteristics of the generation alpha were identified and explained through nine categories. In the second step, concepts and propositions related to teaching and learning were inferred in the form of seven categories. These categories were then used to develop appropriate teaching and learning strategies for the generation alpha. The findings showed that the alphas tend to take the lead in their learning, blur the boundaries between formal and informal learning, and replace traditional one-way methods with interactive ones.