Educating the Net Generation

How to Engage Students in the 21st Century

Bob Pletka

• Publisher: Santa Monica Press
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781595808684
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Gestión del aula

Educating the Net Generation: How to Engage Students in the 21st Century addresses the national problem of escalating high-school dropout rates and student disengagement, and offers solutions as to how to best involve students of the millennial generation. The book examines the unique characteristics of the Net Generation and explains how the educational expectations and needs of the Net Generation differ from their Gen-X parents and Baby Boomer grandparents. It also looks at why many students resist engaging in formalized education in schools and ultimately drop out.Chapters featuring student interviews and photographs synthesize the perspectives of current high school students regarding their experiences, beliefs, and thoughts on learning, while a parallel set of parent interviews reveals what parents feel is important in their child's education and how they would like to see schools engage their children in learning.Recommendations for changes in school policy and the financial investment critical to turning the situation around are also included, along with an inventory/ checklist for parents, teachers, and school administrators to determine if their individual school environment has what it takes to keep students motivated and engaged.

CHAPTER 1

THE EMERGING NET GENERATION

LISTENING TO A VIBRANT speaker, self-identified from the Silent Generation, give a presentation on generational differences, I found that most of his talk resonated with me. This feeling shifted, however, when he began speaking about the Net Generation and their ubiquitous use of technology, arguing that because of their reliance on digital communication, they would surely find themselves feeling lonely and isolated from the real world. Even though his words had seemed somehow comforting to me as he reaffirmed my world view and suggested that we were not the ones who needed to adapt, his words no longer resonated. He went on to say that he “found it amusing that this generation would rather text message than speak to a person face to face.” Rhetorically, he asked the audience, “How will they be able to procreate?” (Somehow, I doubted this would be a problem for the generation.) Another person from the audience, a Baby Boomer, commented that she found it disturbing when she saw members of the Net Generation talking on the cell phone instead of talking to the person next to them. She and the speaker both concluded, with agreement from much of the audience, that the Net Generation would rather communicate and interact using technology in the virtual world than interact face to face in the real world.

I found the audience’s conclusion more insightful of our own generation’s underlying perceptions of the world than about the underlying perceptions of the Net Generation. The perception is that somehow the world is divided into the real and the virtual and, additionally, that face-to-face interactions within social, economical, religious, and political contexts are deemed meaningful whereas digital online communication and interaction is a playful diversion from the real world. While the audience may have conceded that operating in this digital world could be fun, interesting, and even informative, many of them stated that the virtual environment separates those who enter it from the real work and meaningful interactions that come from physical contact and face-to-face meetings.

While this notion appeals to me—a division between real communication and digital interaction—this line no longer separates the world any longer (if ever). The line has blurred with a Gaussian effect in which two separate images blend. Many of us know somebody who started an online relationship that led to marriage sometime later. Real dollars and fortunes are being made and spent in virtual, multiplayer games and on e-commerce sites. Political campaigns are being waged on the web while powerful computers and satellites are used to hunt down terrorists. From making love to waging war, the two worlds of the physical and the digital have blended to form a new image of society. Digital communication does not replace face-to-face interaction, but it does create new opportunities, remove time and geographical barriers, and enable new global connections.

Even though the Net Generation perceives the digital and the physical as intrinsically linked, the aforementioned speaker’s conclusion, which suggested that the Net Generation would rather text message with a friend that talk with them face-to-face, is based not on research but on the perceptions from older generations about a new rising one. It is not that Net Geners would rather instant message than spend time interacting with a friend face-to-face but rather that they have limitless possibilities with whom they can choose to communicate. For this generation, the world is all about choices—when, how, why, and what they want to communicate—and neither time nor place can stop them. When they are choosing to interact with someone over a cell phone rather than to speak with the person next to them, some Net Geners may have decided that they would rather communicate with somebody else at that moment or that the conversation has become stagnant or that the person next to them doesn’t have an answer to a question they want resolved right now. It is all about choices; but it is also about instant responses to those choices, and sometimes instantly does not come fast enough. Unfettered by constraints such as distance and time that have bound previous generations, Net Geners decide when and with whom they want to communicate moment by moment.

This perpetual ability to make choices was recently made clear on a family vacation with my wife and two children. Driving along the awe-inspiring Redwood Highway in Northern California, my wife and I were pointing out the ancient trees to our kids only to have my teenager comment that one tree seemed to look like all the rest. As we continued to admire the scenery, I noticed that my daughter had become silent and was looking down at something in her hands. It wasn’t long before I realized that she was text messaging. At that moment I had to confront the brutal fact that this act did not mean she would rather communicate digitally than interact face-to-face, but that she would rather socialize with a friend about a topic of her choosing than participate in a more generalized family discussion. Ouch! She had simply chosen to take part in a communication that was more exciting than the family tree conversation her parents were having. Like no other group in history, this generation has more choices, access, and ability to choose what selections they perceive will meet their needs, tastes, and interests.

Who is the Net Generation?

So who is this emerging generation? Some call them the Millennial Generation, Generation Y, Echo Boomers, iGeneration, or the Net Generation. Born between 1982 and 2002, this group was the first to grow up in the digital and Internet era. Don Tapscott first coined the term “Net Generation” in his book Growing Up Digital to describe a generation shaped by a new, networked, visually rich, digitally constructed communication and information world. In this environment, all the world’s locations, maps, and places can be stored digitally as 1s and 0s on a GPS small enough to be held in a child’s hand. This generation was born and nurtured in an environment in which information is a commodity and a 13-year-old has the same access to the information and distribution network on the World Wide Web that the multinational billion-dollar corporation has.

As a result of growing up in this digitally constructed information and communication atmosphere, the Net Generation is most comfortable multitasking in fast-paced, visually oriented environments. In applied learning situations, they are adept at discovering information where it can be accessed randomly in associative contexts rather than in step-by-step linear ways. Whether operating within the 3-D virtual worlds of online video games or maneuvering through hyperlinked e-commerce sites such as Ebay, this generation mostly functions in these experiential online worlds competently without the need for manuals or For Dummies books. When they do need assistance, they expect short video clips, graphics, or collaborative contexts in which they can simply ask quick questions and get short answers to guide them through online quagmires.

The Net Generation spends more time playing video games and surfing the Net than watching television.

Even though Net Geners expect collaborative learning conditions and social online contexts, they also expect individualized feedback to their unique needs. From changing an automated voice from male to female or switching their splash screen on their blog, they seek opportunities to personalize the world to their preferences. Many of them not only have the opportunity but also possess the technical skill and competency to customize these environments. Moreover, they have been shaped by the merging of information and communication and have become the “Digital Natives” of this new world.

Tabula Rasa—Nurtured by their Environment

Even as I write this, in my own mind I can hear my grandfather saying, “Kids are kids. What was good for previous generations will be good for future generations. If it was good enough for me then it is good enough for them.” When referring to love, character, dedication, and the value of commitment, I would agree with him. However, different from previous generations are many of this generation’s values (although rooted strongly in the American tradition, e.g., diversity), needs (e.g., visual learners), expectations (e.g., self-paced, customized), and skills (e.g., information literacy, digital competencies). Net Geners have been nurtured by the development of this new digital world to make them who they are.

As suggested by the empiricist philosophers Locke, Bacon, and Hume, as well as by modern psychologists such as John Watson, a person, a community of people, or, in our case, a generation of people acquire knowledge and behaviors through the experiences of the senses and as a reflection of those experiences. Their behaviors are the result of interaction and conditioning from the environment that ultimately shapes who they become. The renowned educational researchers, Lave and Wenger go further and suggest that individuals, community, and the environment are reconstituted and changed in a dialectical process of engagement by the individual within a community and the environment. The world that shaped this generation is significantly different from any previous.

So what are the new forces that have nurtured this new generation? Digital technologies have changed how information, communication, and commerce are diffused into society; but they have also nurtured a new generation of learners that have adapted to the new demands, tools, values, and expectations of an information society. In the following section, we will examine the new information, communication, and commerce environments that have shaped the generation. The section will conclude with a discussion of how the forces of information, communication and commerce digital technologies have influenced the characteristics and expectations of the Net Generation.

Information

The information rich environment that has formed the personalities and character of this generation is abundant, immediate, interactive, and always available. It is also now presented using a variety of visual, graphical, and auditory styles that provide a multitude of ways for sharing knowledge. As people interact and input information, digital systems provide instantaneous feedback and responses. Take, for example, how Nike and Apple have joined together to create a new type of multimedia workout system for the avid fitness enthusiast. With a pair of Nike Plus running shoes, a small transmitter that fits into the bottom of the shoe, and an iPod nano, a runner gets real-time feedback about his or her speed, calories burned, and distance run. Runners can have key benchmark results spoken to them through the iPod speakers while running, or they can choose to listen to a weekly podcast produced specially for these enthusiasts. When runners are wracked with fatigue and in danger of quitting, the power song starts playing through the iPod to carry them through the moment of weakness. After the workout, runners can sync the workout to the NikePlus.com website to monitor long-term progress and set goals. On the website, the enthusiast can see the workout history pop up in a graph, with an animation of a runner indicating progress. In this new online environment, personal results can be compared with others, whereby runners can compete remotely with other runners or team up with friends to set group goals. Remote results from runners are uploaded to the website, aggregating on the fly while also informing members how their team is doing.

Because the new digital world is full of systems like Nike Plus, the Net Generation has come to expect multimedia, experiential, and interactive learning systems. They seek learning systems that provide instant feedback, such as those built into Nike Plus, so that they can adapt, acquire new skills, and collaborate with others. In their search, Net Geners have found a digital world pulsing photographs, videos, charts, text, and audio commentary that has been customized for them through speakers, displays, PDAs, multiplayer games, cell phones, headphones, and even shoes as they filter, absorb, synthesize, and distribute information yet again. They have learned to be both efficient consumers and producers of information as they create and author new knowledge and artifacts.

With the advent of online technologies such as Wiki (websites where everyone can edit content), all have the right to add to the collective knowledge of the online community. The production of books is no longer controlled solely by publishing houses; collectively, communities can now choose to author material in various genres and then distribute and market that material through the free online tools and sites of the World Wide Web. In these Wiki environments, anyone can visit the site and, with a click of the button, turn the displayed text into editable fields in which the person can change, add, or enhance what has been written. One of the most popular online encyclopedias, Wikipedia, has been completely edited, written, and produced by the public. At this moment, you could visit the Wikipedia website and add an entry about a subject in which you possess expertise, from home beer brewing to butterflies. This democratic type of access makes all of us not only consumers of knowledge but also potential producers who can contribute to the collective whole. In this setting, the youths have as much opportunity, technical skill, and access to contribute to these online works as adults with doctorates. The digital world in which they live is less about credentials and more about the content and quality of what is produced. Online environments and Wiki technologies promote the contribution of ideas, manifesting through collaborative efforts that enable outcomes and real products that are judged on their own merits within the community.

As you can imagine, this questions our assumptions about how knowledge is transferred and who has the expertise and right to contribute knowledge. What if somebody from the public adds an entry to the encyclopedia that is wrong? How do we know that it is right? Can we believe what is written (or should we)? With this technology we have found that there is a self-correcting component. Even when somebody adds a wrong entry, the community self-corrects the information as somebody adds a new entry that refutes the claim. This process does take time, from days to months, and some may question if this type of response is fast enough for an on-demand world. Expertise is no longer being defined exclusively by a Ph.D., M.D., or Ed.D. but rather by the perceived value and the quality of the idea, knowledge, or information itself. The masses are encouraged not only to consume information but also to produce new knowledge. This empowering of the individual through open access to data, production tools, and distribution networks democratizes the production of knowledge.

No longer do large oligarchies of media, publishers, governments, or local agencies have complete control over the building and allocation of information. Individuals are now empowered to compete, argue, and spread knowledge in what Thomas L. Friedman calls “the flat world.” For example, the website YouTube potentially gives anyone who knows how to upload video on the Internet tremendous influence. YouTube, a website purchased by Google in which anyone can upload, download, or watch amateur or professional videos, is essentially a free distribution center for a worldwide audience. The Press Enterprise, in a November 2006 article entitled “Beating Video Shows Power of YouTube,” highlighted how an alleged beating of a suspect by the police that was captured on video using a cell phone and subsequently uploaded to the YouTube website sparked an FBI investigation of the incident. After just one month of being posted on the site, 155,000 people watched the clip that helped to propel the investigation forward. Without this type of exposure, the investigation likely would not have occurred.

The power of individuals has grown as the technologies have created a synergistic effect with low-cost video cameras, inexpensive editing software, and (now) free media distribution centers on the Internet with worldwide penetration. In the past, program managers and news stations controlled the stories, opinions, video, and photographs seen and heard by the public. On an even larger scale, influential politicians, wealthy profiteers, and large media conglomerates controlled the flow of information through high-powered public relation firms and media outlets. Even as that continues today, individuals now have channels of communication that can provide them a voice to be heard by thousands of people. Many Net Geners have been given a voice in this new world, and because they have the time and access, they take advantage of technologies such as YouTube to give voice to their ideas and thoughts.

Communication

These new channels of communication have been made possible by new communication technologies, such as fiber optics, that have connected the continents of the world. Even the “last mile connection” problem is slowly being eroded as fiber optics are coming into businesses, schools, and even homes. In my community in Murrieta, California, we have fiber optics in our home that enable me to watch live events over streaming media on the Internet and participate in no cost video conferencing with our good friends in South Dakota. This trend of extending fiber optics into the home is growing throughout the country as more homes have greater bandwidth options, which bring increased media services to consumers. With fiber optics comes speed and opportunity—opportunity to interact and communicate with individuals or groups using any medium, whether it is by voice, music, multiplayer gaming, or even video conferencing.

Whereas fiber optics brought remote connectivity between continents, speed of transmission, and high quality media capacity, the increasing capability of the cell phone brings flexibility, continuous ongoing connection, and portability of information and media. For example, with the Treo, a cell phone and PDA combination, I have new ad hoc opportunities to get information and communication. During meeting presentations, I use my Bluetooth device to instant message colleagues and solicit their comments without interrupting the presenter. During breaks in the meeting, I check my email on my Treo or make a quick call. Other times, stuck waiting in a doctor’s office, I’ll listen to a podcast or check a website for information, all using my steroid-infused Treo cell phone. Using the built-in video camera on my phone, I have even used the device to scare off an inflamed driver who was seeking, spurred on by road rage, to use his car to ram me off the road. Since his car was inches from me, he was able to see the Treo in my hand capturing his behavior on video.

The cell phone is tremendously flexible and provides a wide range of portable media and communication services that embeds it into all aspects of society. In the past, culture was segmented by clearly defined times and tasks between the worlds of business, family, entertainment, and education. Now the cell phone acts as a hub connecting segments of people’s lives. People no longer work solely from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. at their desk or solely play on their vacation. Wherever and whenever individuals are awake, they are linke...