Net Generation

I may have never known life without the Internet, but that does mean I am not “net savvy.” Being exposed to huge quantities of information on the Web—in text, audio, image and video formats—sorting valid information from misinformation is a constant challenge for me.

The Net Generation—today’s students, who have never known life without the Internet—seem completely at home in the digital world. They are able to adopt or drop technologies rapidly, never needing an instruction manual to understand how to run an application or operate a device. I can see my students who are seven year old able to handle computer gadget with ease. My 10 year old daughter whom I consider not internet savvy at all is increasingly digital, whether instant messaging or e-mailing photos. Finding her friends isn’t limited to meeting people in class; I have to constantly watch her making sure that her friends are limited her school. I am not surprise that she is also able to download collections of music, movies, and ring tones soon.

Students are empowered. When they want information, they don’t ask an expert or go to the library. They use the Internet to find information for themselves. Whether through a search engine, a chat room, or a network of friends, abundant information is readily available. Students are not only consumers of information but also active information creators—including text, images, audio, and video. It would seem, then, that the Net Generation is net savvy.
Despite students’ skills and do-it-yourself confidence, however, concerns have arisen about their information gathering, technology use, and critical thinking approaches.

I need to also educate my kids at home as well as in school that when they download a resource, I will ask them whether have they assessed the source quality? Do they understand the ethics surrounding use of others’ intellectual property? Did they conduct an effective search, or did they simply grab the first result from Google?

Other concerns have recently emerged in my school , such as student understanding of privacy, security, and how the Internet works. Just as the Internet is a force for great good, it has also proven to be a vehicle for mischief and abuse. They have recently abuse the usage of you tube. They have posted information that might better be kept private. We should never assume that students are not as net savvy as we might have assumed.

The ways in which all this information is used have also expanded. Beyond search and retrieval, information is contextualized, analyzed, visualized, and synthesized—complex skills that require critical thinking.

I have done some reading on the internet and and these two questions strike me. I do hope to hear some comments from any of you guys.

Two questions become particularly important to educators: “How can students become skilled at finding, evaluating, creating, and effectively using information from the rapidly expanding resources available to them?” and “How can these skills transfer to the workplace and personal lives of students once they leave campus?”