Digital Natives and Net Gen

As I read the articles for this week, I was reminded of an instance with my mom: or as I like to call her, a "not so technologically inclined person". She was working on the computer, doing the things my mom does on the computer(...checking email and...well, that's pretty much it!) when she encountered a problem. An ominous "ERROR" had popped up on the screen! In her panic, she didn't know what to do except call in the "Expert", my 10 year old nephew James. He rushed in to her rescue and, of course, remedied the problem in a matter of minutes.

James is a prime example of a "Digital Native". He has spent his whole life around technology; learning it and absorbing it so that it has almost become second nature to him. He knows more about a computer than most of the adults in my family. He not only uses technology for entertainment; but also relies on it as a learning tool. The same is true for his fellow classmates. Technology has become a core part of their learning.

This is much different from when my parents were in school and even from when I was in school. Teachers seemed terrified of incorporating anything technological into their lessons. Most of my teachers were even apprehensive about using a VCR. They were the "Paper/Pencil" educators with very traditional means of relaying their curriculum to their students.

It is extremely important for us to realize that children today are learning differently and grasp technological concepts easily. Educators need to better prepare themselves to incorporate technology into the classroom in order to ensure they can effectively reach these so called "Digital Natives".