Educating the Net Generation is good!

So far I’ve made it through chapter 3 of Educating the Net Generation. I’m really loving it.
Here’s some representative quotes:

• “they’ve never known life without the internet”
• “they know more screen names than phone numbers”
• they tend to have a nonlinear thought process
• their differences include:
  ability to read visual images
  visual-spacial skills
  inductive discovery
  fast response time
• “they are constantly connected and always on”
• they thrive on social interaction
• to them technology means new features, a cell phone is not technology but a cell phone with a new feature is technology
• “instant messaging is not technology, it is an action”
• “the software blends into the background”
• they prefer face to face, not online interactions
• they are able to move seamlessly between social modes with ease — physical and virtual
• they thrive on first-person learning, experiential learning, constructivist learners
• “they are visually literate and are more comfortable in an image-rich environment rather than a text only”
• Power Point is there to “provide power to a particular point … not placing an entire course lesson on every slide”
• they share some characteristics with their grandparents, both are tinkers but take different approaches
• “they learn through social interaction”
• they know how to do what they do with technology, however this does not imply a deep understanding of technology

Whew! It’s really great so far. Beyond people just writing about the Net Generation, there’s also articles by members of the Net Generation.

Educating the Net Generation — ebook from Educause

I’ve got some reading ahead of me! Educating the Net Generation is more a compilation of articles (like Dede’s I just mentioned). But they look good and I can’t wait to start on them.
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Chris Dede article in latest Educause quarterly

I just got an email with the latest articles in Educause quarterly. I was excited to see 3 of great interest. The top one being Chris Dede’s “Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles .” I’ve raved about Dede here before (search on the right for Dede). This article touches on….
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Understanding vs doing

From this blog (http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/001905.html) , a study on the use of camera phones notes how the younger generation approaches technology adoption as “if it works, I’ll use it” whereas adults take the “if I can understand it, I’ll use it” approach.
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M-learning and a reality check

Articles on m-learning are pushing the edge of what may happen. I wonder if digital immigrants can really predict what digital natives will do next? The comments in this article provide a reality check.
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