NetGen reality

We hear so much about NetGen and the Millenium and digital generation - how tech savvy they are, how they will challenge us who are the "digital immigrants". What is surprising to me is the huge range of interests and abilities. Some of these kids are physically wired (or wirelessly connected) most of their waking hours. However, texting your friends about hair-dos and sports scores doesn't provide a lot of "transferable skills" for learning in a complex interactive environment.

Other students have been running the family internet connection, getting their news from the slashdot RSS feed and reading Wired magazine since they were in middle school. But they don't see the value in writing in complete sentences or turning assignments in on time.

I love giving students "research" assignments - find and review web sites about a topic. This is where I learn sooo much. They turn up great stuff that I wouldn't find in a year of searching.
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