The disparity between student and educators is producing, according to Sue Bennett, Karl Maton, and Lisa Kervin in their article, The ‘Digital Natives’ Debate: A Critical Review of Evidence, an alienation and general indifference between instructors and their students. This lack of interest further drives misrepresentations of the Net Gen, such as that they are obsessed with technology, socially inept, and unconcerned with the larger issues in their lives, such as relationships, work, goals, and personal and professional success (Bennett 778). It can be easily acknowledged in the many, may I say, insults that this generation receives, are false representations or over-generalized stereotypes. Some of the insults include the following: socially-inept, disorganized, dumb, addicted, slovenly, unfit, narcissistic, and apathetic. In fact, narcissism and social media have almost become inextricable cause and effect (or chicken and egg?) concepts. In particular, The Net Gen seems to be the most affected by this personality issue: the inability to escape oneself because oneself is everything. Social media has become a digital mirror of ourselves and we have turned to it to see our reflection: is it distorted or clear?
In some cases, the complaints about the Net Gen hold water. In many others, they do not. Three particular social mediums have helped form a stable argument for social media: Facebook, Youtube, and blogging. For one, all of these mediums allow for open expression, communication, and the development of an online identity. Lonely, scatter-brained narcissists may not be the most beneficial way of describing a generation who has invested more energy and time into these networks than large corporations of paid employees. As a result, they have also made their online presence felt throughout the world. Likewise, this generation has effectively created a pluralistic, democratic cyber-sphere by expressing their ‘likes’ and dislikes, fears, hopes, and desires. They have learned to share, scrutinize, philosophize, and investigate information on a multitude of topics. They have been educated by the media that they are now shaping and have been busy doing this without pay for over a decade. No wonder they seem so disconnected from the world that surrounds them: they have been creating a world in another one, the cyber one. Let’s look into specific case studies of the three social mediums.
Case Studies
1) Facebook or Facehooked?: How to Retract Students from Being Distracted
Facebook is a social network made for connecting with people. That is the purpose the network boasts, to “stay connected.” The current slogan of the network is “It’s free and always will be,” which grabs the user’s attention to what the site offers: freedom. The freedom to create an online identity and share, network, and build an online presence with a global group of Facebook users. How is this not attractive, especially to a generation who already has easy access to social media? However, Facebook is also being targeted by educators as a liability to learning because it keeps students consistently distracted during lectures and from their school work. There is no realistic way of banning Facebook in classrooms, since the social network is so readily available to all users on a democratic platform. Instead, educators should grasp at the opportunity to include social networking in and out of the classroom. How do you do this without infringing on the privacy of students (and without them infringing on the privacy of their teachers)? You simply create groups, which can easily be built on Facebook. Facebook Groups allows an educator to manage and monitor the group while also collaborating with students on their level. Connecting with the Net Gen on their platform allows for educators to also scope in on how this generation communicates. Privacy concerns, such as if an educator should friend a student, can be addressed by the educator on an individual basis. There are many ways to secure and protect one’s Facebook account which students are likely to be aware of. Educators should also note that any user can “report” inappropriate content posted by other users. Fear that stems from the very understandable concern of breaching the privacy of others is eradicated by the measures users can take to protect their and others’ privacy. Facebook can serve students in many positive ways and this should be emphasized by educators who are willing to incorporate the social network in their classrooms. For instance, educators can encourage students to showcase their talents on the network. They may also help students create start-ups and how to use online networks effectively to help connect with future employers. Facebook can act as an addition, not a burden, to the student in their future.
Ultimately, the benefit of a worldwide social networking site is that it does something revolutionary using a simple medium: it connects people together. Once connected, people begin communicating. It is communication that enables people to develop their ideas into realities and further them via online networks. If students can become individuals online worthy of a good job and a positive future, then they can use what they post as a template for the ‘real’ world. It is always good to have a drawing board.
2) Youtube: “Here We Are Now, Entertain [and watch] Us”
Nirvana song
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg]
The Gen-X anthem, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” describes an apathetic youth wanting nothing more than to be entertained. They are hopeless, guideless, and de-sensitized to the media that fills their brain with candy, a metaphor for empty thought. The anthem became definitive of a generation who, at first passively resisted the media, then became proactively involved in re-shaping it. Gen X’s successors, Gen Y (aka Net Gen), have carried along this torch in seamless ways. Their hyper-interaction with technology has made them actively create media, develop ideas, and post online videos of themselves. Youtube is the new TV (and a little more, too). Granted, many videos on Youtube are empty thought, but many are useful sources of information. Youtube videos can be created by students for a project, for instance, or developed into a channel of videos. As stated, the Net Gen’s brain responds more acutely to moving images on screens (Tapscott 149). This is not surprising, since they have grown up amongst mobile images, screens, and interactive media. They are also creators of these mediums. For a class project, final essay, or presentation, video can come in handy in helping students perform for their class. On the other hand, videos may also help professors record and share lectures, and present information from all over the web. Youtube for Teachers is an example of a site dedicated to teaching using online video in classroom. Aside from this, professors in universities can most certainly tune their classrooms into Youtube’s education channel or specific channels dedicated to each post-secondary institution. What is clear is that Youtube functions on the basic principles that make digital media so important in today’s world: it is interactive, open, user-centred, and collaborative. It encourages users to innovate, share, and discuss, not merely sit back and watch. Youtube is part of Web 2.0, a network of digital tools that are transcending traditional web-based mediums. Youtube, along with Facebook, blogging, and other networking sites provide the user the ability to situate their work for a global stage. They can interact with one another, as well. Content that is posted on Youtube can be shared via Facebook, for instance. Hyper-interaction allows students to place a new importance on their work: it is being seen/heard/discussed on many levels that transcend a classroom setting. Instead of standing in front of a class and presenting a 10 minute presentation, students might want to take their presentation onto Youtube and make a short film. Making films is not so hard with the right software. As well, a student could interweave video into the traditional essay or report, raising the standards of a traditional undergraduate essay to that or a graduate-level project.
Overall, Youtube is a video sharing site of which allows users to explore, post, and interact with content. Its dynamic content on just about any subject, from personal videos to professional presentations, promotes information sharing and developing new, creative content.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/teachers]
3) Blogs: Getting Personal (and Professional)
The blog is foremost a tool for expression. Yet, knowledge and the development of ideas can be part of a professional endeavour. Students prepare projects, essays, and presentations consistently throughout their university careers. There are many ways to do these on a blog, which is a space that combines mediums. For instance, a traditional essay can become a multimedia presentation combining video, image, and text – all of which centre around a thesis, or main interpretation. A discipline-specific presentation is also possible and is so often far easier and more creative to present on a blog because of the access to multimedia. Aside from the aesthetic value of blogs, they also combine a variety of sources in dynamic ways. Blogs emphasize just that: interactivity and discussion. Fellow students and instructors can comment and provide criticism on a student’s post. Blogs are a work in progress and show the construction, development, and formation of an idea. The blogger(s) may pick the verbal tone, whether serious, conservative, business-casual, or loose and creative. As well, style adds to the content, emphasizing the main themes and ideas being expressed. The following link is to the blog of a student, Jan Rivett, who completed a blog, entitled “The Prison of Identity,” for Dr. Sara Humphrey’s class, “Theories of Race and Ethnicity.” It is apparent from Jan’s blog that the original text has been successfully interpreted into an interesting, professional blog. Jan’s dynamic multimedia presentation delves into theories on racial identity in literature and shows readers a variety of angles they can take on the particular texts she studied for the course. It should also be noted that blogs are, oftentimes, personalized. This personalization does not distance the reader, but attracts them to interact and converse with the blog’s presentation.
The Prison of Identity, by Jan Rivett
Here is a link to TED’s Education lecture series, available via Youtube and TED.com:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw&feature=related]
Works Cited
Tapscott, Don. Grown Up Digital. McGraw-Hill. New York: 2009. Print.
Bennett, Sue, Lisa Kervin, Karl Maton. “The ‘digital natives’ debate: A Critical Review
of the Evidence.” British Journal of Educational Technology. 39.5. (2008): 775-786.
2 July, 2012. < http://kimhuett.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/The-digital-natives-debate-A-
critical-review-of-the-evidence.pdf>