Double Entry Journal #10

Chapter #3: Students, the Net Generation, and Digital Natives 1. What is the fundamental problem with the discourses around children's use of technology?  According to Prensky, it fails to reflect the diversity and complexity to be found in real lives, and can have real impacts on the way these views are taken up and embedded in policy. 2. What is meant by the term "moral panic"? Link to an image, online article, cartoon, or some other resource that depicts the "moral panic" associated with young people's use of digital technologies. The term "moral panic" is a term that has arisen to describe conditions in which an identified group in society is portrayed as a threat to social values and norms ie. digital natives. 3. How do you feel about engaging in more "collaborative learning" during your education at Fairmont State? I think that engaging in collaborative learning can be a good thing if it is done in the classroom.  I have encountered issues in the past where an assignment was a group project and not all members participated in doing the work. 4. Do you think Universities should move to a more free-market based privatization business model? Why?  No, because I like the face-to-face interaction and I think that something would be lost in the learning process if every single class was web-based instruction by one professor addressing thousands of students online.  Even though that professor may be the most or best qualified for teaching the subject, how can he/she provide one-on-one feedback to each individual student and prepare that student for the workforce? 5. According to the author what is wrong with Prenskey's revised position on his definition of "digital native"? Do you agree with this authors criticism of Prenskey's view of the role technology plays in the education of young people? Prenskey's revised position on digital natives suggests that digital enhancement is essential, even though it moves beyond a straightforward divide between immigrants and natives, digital enhancement must be accepted to succeed. No, because I feel that Prenskey's views are correct in the fact that the education of young people does require the continued advancements of technology.  Society has to determine what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. 6. What are the characteristics of Millennial? Are you a Millennial? The characteristics of a Millennial include: digital and technologically affluent, part of long-term processes rooted in human history, biology, and culture and to have core values that include community, technology, and affluence. Yes, I feel that I am a millennial because I am becoming more digitally and technologically affluent, and have values of community and succeeding. 7. Do you think there is such a thing as the "Net Generation"? Why? Why not? Yes, because today's university students are different than the student's 20 years ago.  Now students are more familiar with digital technology and can quickly navigate Internet on their cell phones, their blog pages and tell you the best price for an item that they want to purchase with the click of a button.  Finding research for papers is much easier that what it was 20 years ago, but the researcher must be more careful to make sure that the source is reliable.  8. What is meant by the term "networked individualism"? Castells describes the social form taken by the network society as networked individualism.  The concept allows for sociability through diverse geographical locations through networks that have weak ties.  9. How would you feel about Fairmont State discontinuing the use of Blackboard and Webmail to using Gmail and Google tools? It might be better, because Blackboard and Webmail haven't worked well in the past. 10. Why does the term "Digital Native" persist despite lack of empirical evidence of age related difference due to rapid increase of digital technologies? The term "Digital Native" persists because stereotyping is needed in order to reduce complexity and to apply simplified rules of thumb.  11. Who societal sector seems to be benefiting the most from the social construction of a "Digital Native" generation?  The commercial and market interests are benefiting from selling technology based items to the Digital Natives so that they can keep up with their the Net Generation, and the Net Generation is constantly looking for digital upgrades.  12. Which argument about "digital natives" needs to be discarded and which one needs to be explored? Why?

 The idea that technology simply determines the outlook of an entire generation should be discarded; and the idea that the variety among young people and the patterns that arise in relation to their use of technologies need to be explored.