*LIGHTBULB!*

Okay, it's been a few weeks since I've done any writing, but I've done a lot of reading and the more I look into the Google Generation, the more interested I'm becoming in my topic on digital literacy. Apparently, there seems to be a debate underway that a generation of students with sophisticated technical skills are entering the education system and expressing learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared.

I'm interested in identifying who this generation is, what their research and educational characteristics are and how they differ from the generations prior. Is this Google Generation the real deal? Are they the new hope for the future or a flash in the pan of lasting informational brilliance?

What is this going to mean for our information literacy? Is a reformation of the educational, library and information organizations systems in order? Say we spend the time and money to make the changes--what does this mean for the instructors who are used to teaching in the traditional way? Not only are we going to have to change the way we teach information to our students, we'll have to change our whole approach so the students learn and retain the information we pass on.

There is so much talk out there right now and I only wish I could read fast enough! Get ready, I'm super pumped to start putting out some serious posts on this topic.

The Google Generation: Individuals born after 1993.

So far, I've found these two big thinkers on the discussion of the new techies coming through the educational system:

Marc Prensky: coined the terms "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" to distinguish between those who have grown up with technology and those who have adapted to it.

• Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon. 9(5). 1-6. doi:10.1108/10748120110424816
• Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants part 2: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon. 9(6). 1-6. doi:10.1108/10748120110424843.

The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native: What they do differently because of technology,and how they do it

• communicating differently: email, chat, IM
• sharing differently: blogs, webcams, camera phones
• buying and selling differently: eBay, schoolwork
• exchanging differently: music, movies, humor
• creating differently: sites, avatars, mods
• meeting differently: 3D chat rooms, dating
• collecting differently: mp3, censor data, video
• coordinating differently: projects, workgroups, MMORPGs
• evaluating differently: Reputation systems–Epinions, Amazon, Slashdot
• gaming differently: “versus,” small & large groups
• learning differently: about stuff that interests them
• searching differently: info, connections, people
• analyzing differently: SETI, drug molecules
• reporting differently: Moblogs, digital photos
• programming differently: Open systems, mods, search
• socializing differently: Learning social behavior, influence
• evolving differently: Peripheral, emergent behaviors
• growing up differently: Exploring, transgressing

Marshall McLuhan: "The Medium is the Message" in "Understanding Media and the Extensions of Man" (1964)--> how data is transferred changes the system of beliefs in society.

• McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: Signet.

We need to update the way we offer information in order to keep up in the virtual research and information communities.