So I'm going to try to be successful with the net generation - I keep telling myself after each class. On my drive home I think about how I can apply all that I'm learning to my classroom. I agree that there are many in-class projects I can do, but there are still other missions that I'm not too sure about. Many times when I offer a computer assignment, I'll get a response from students - "I don't have internet access at home." This shocks me because I like to think that everyone has internet access nowadays. I tried to remind myself the other day that it's probably due to the population that I serve. Since I work in a lower-income, urban school district, the large possibility exists that many don't even own a computer. This is where the chapter I read was right-on! Toward the beginning, it talked about the fact that we like to classify the net generation and think they ALL have access to technology or sometimes access to the same type of technology.

I'll tell you the big problem in my classroom whether rich or poor - Ipods! Cell phones! Maybe they don't all have internet access but there are forms of technology that I see are present in them. So, they are the net generation, but we can't assume they all have the same kind of knowledge. I'm supposed to be part of the net generation and I was one of those that only used internet for e-mailing professors in college. I didn't know too much about internet use - I still don't!

Keeping this in mind, in order for me to be successful with the net generation, I need to understand it's not ALL about technology (as the article was stating). Part of learning still has to be traditional as well. The difference is that today's learners are not as much auditory as they are visual so it's important to keep them engaged! I can facilitate a style of learning that engages my students and keeps them active and hands-on. Today's students are very kinesthetic-oriented.

I think if I keep these ideas in mind, it will help me serve my population of inner-city students. I don't have to make technology the CENTER of my class, but I can apply it in a manner that students will be engaged enough to learn comfortably!