I learn, You Learn, We Learn... Right?

I'm fascinated by the research I'm digging up on the Google Generation. I'm going to use this term interchangeably with the terms: Millenials, N-Geners, and Digital Natives. We're looking at an age range of those born after 1993 or, according to Don Tapscott "people who were between the age of 2 and 22 in 2002".



That age range would include me.

What I'm basically uncovering is that many researchers in the field consider my generation of tech-infused youngsters to be mere skimmers of information. Before I endanger myself of over-generalizing, I'm going to have to ask: "Is this true of myself?" If it is, I don't know if I really like what I'm hearing and reading.

One of the key themes I'll have to discuss in my research paper is going to have to be:

Who makes up the Google Generation?
What are their characteristics?
How is technology involved in this trend?
So what's the problem?
Google Generation: Hope for the Future or Shooting Stars?
Is a reformation in the educational system needed?

In my research, I came across a quote by John Dewey, Educator & Philosopher: "If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow". I'm going to have to print this out and hang it over my desk while I consider how the Google Generation fits into our society.

Are they really expressing learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared? Are they really different from their predecessors? Do we need to change the way we teach them or the way we perceive the skill sets the Google Generation does bring to all aspects of our world as we know it? I keep hearing McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message" ideas sounding off in my head even more now that I'm looking at ways in which the Web has really changed the way we access information and subsequently how we internalize information and turn it into knowledge.