Emerging Technologies for Learning

Diana Oblinger discusses the characteristics of the Net Generation and looks at the implications these students will have in the classroom. Students of the net generation are multi-taskers, multi-users, multi-media savvy. These students expect to be creators of their knowledge. The classroom is just one place to collaborate and connect their knowledge with their peers. The teacher is a facilitator guiding and helping to contextualize their nodes of information into a meaningful piece of knowledge.

It was interesting to read this article in comparison to the article about the Net Generation that we read in Fall 2007. The characteristics of the Net Generation has not changed, but it is fascinating to see how many Web 2.0 have evolved or been created to address their needs and the new learning styles of society. We expect immediacy when we desire information. We want to Google or Wikipedia or chat with experts when we need answers to our questions. In order to organize all these tidbits of information, we need visuals or graphic organizers to help us put these thoughts in order. There are so many social-networking tools available and many more aimed towards learning groups, such as Nings.