Class 2

As I read about the Net Gen tonight, I realized how much I'm a part of that. While I read the introduction of the text, I noticed I have an advantage as an educator because I'm young and able to use much of the technology that is available to students today.

First of all, I got flashbacks from college when I read the second chapter which started by explaining a college student who wakes up and checks how many IMs he missed while sleeping! Not only that, it mentioned the fact that he no longer goes to the library to research, but prefers doing online research. This is so true! I think this has a huge influence on how our students today learn because I remember in college, I had to get help from professors to research - thank God for online journals! One of the things that educators need to remember today is that students are very visual and kinesthetic thanks to all the techonology that is available. Students today can be texting under their desks as the teacher is lecturing and they don't even have to look down at their phones to do so! This is why it's so important to keep them involved.

One of the important things that I read is the classifications that were created to see how many students had internet access. It seems as though students from even lower income families may still have internet access. They may not have it as much as higher income students do, but it's there. If they don't have internet access then they have other technological things like PSPs, Ipods, Xbox, Playstation, Wii, and more. The main impact to me was the distance learning because I teach courses like this at my church - this truly benefits adults that work full-time to support a family but still want to earn a second degree. Technology should not be looked down on as much as it is with today's students, because it has also encouraged more groups to study, and it has facilitated instruction for many.

Wow - is all I have to say for the Natives article. Many of the things are true - learners are different today. However, I do think the article was a bit radical. I'd like to stick somewhere in the middle of all this. Truthfully, although learners have changed, they are still human-beings and love human interaction and having discussions in class. There are normal things in their lives and they don't ALWAYS prefer to text or chat, they do still love to see their friends in person and do things older people that are "non-digital natives" or "digital immigrants" have done. While I was reading, I remembered one of the chapters in our text which explained how a poll was taken and many students were still 50-50, they liked both teacher lecture AND interaction. I think this is very true. We don't need to teach ONLY TECHONOLOGY, or ONLY TRADITIONAL LECTURES, but we need to provide a balance. We also can't create a generation of robots that can't communicate with others unless it's via something techonological...

Someone once complained, "I don't know why these kids today can't function if they don't have calculators....they can't even do math in their heads anymore!" I would have loved to reply, "Would you walk 15 miles to get somewhere despite the fact that cars exist?" or, "Would you opt for a surgery w/out anesthesia?" I think there needs to be a balance but the older generation also needs to accept that today's kids aren't dumb, they just have a different way of learning and have a few more perks available to them.....