The Net Generation?

The New Generation...What makes a new generation so unlike the one that came before it?

In this case, our culture -- a culture of ever-changing technology -- has done something interesting... It has created the "Net Generation."

"Culture is like dropping an Alka-Seltzer into a glass.
You don't see it, but somehow it does something."
--Hans Magnus Enzensberger

This is a generation of immediate response. Their tolerance of boredom is slim to none. These are the minds that are filling our 21st century schools. Are we prepared? teens at computer
  • They can study with the TV on and soak it all up.
  • They come home, have a snack, CHECK THEIR E-MAIL, and then go outside or up to their room to hang out on the computer with their own personal Internet access.
  • They spend more time texting than talking, and a cell phone isn't just for emergencies anymore!
  • Remember going to the library and walking through shelves of books for information? Kids today don't bother...it is much easier to just "Google" it from their home computer!

Teaching the way we have always taught is not going to cut it.
This generation won't let us get away with it -- and they shouldn't.

It is probably even a safe bet that if you are of an older generation, your kids have probably been the ones that set up the DVD player, the VCR, and your own personal e-mail account!

Technology is what this generation of digital natives knows. It changes your perspective to realize that the majority of this generation doesn't even consider computers to be technology!

Technology is what they have grown up with, and we would be downright silly to think that fact doesn't affect the way they learn.

We must find a way to incorporate technology into our classrooms in a hurry-- student response systems, Web 2.0 tools, wikis, blogs, and social networking, just to name a few. Believe it or not, these technologies are only the tip of the iceberg!

Browse the articles and blog entries below to gain more insight into the Net Generation and the changes that are in store for us as we find new ways of teaching to assist a new generation of learners.

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