Achieving Success With the Net Generation

Unfortunately, information technology, though readily available to most students, is not being used to it's full potential, if at all. Internet resources are not yet fully integrated into the day-to-day classroom setting. There is a large gap between the educational technology that is available and the amount that it is being used. This gap impacts interactive technology, what faculty incorporate into their teaching, and the design of the curriculum.

There are many goals of education. These include forming a good connection between a learner and the social context in which learning will take place. Also, making the curriculum and instruction relevant to adolescents' experiences, cultures, and long-term goals, so that students see some value in the high school curriculum is important.

The Net Gen is constantly connected with a strong need for interactivity. However, it can be exhausting for teachers who have grown up with a traditional view of faculty roles to no longer control the subject matter the students will use. Educators of today need to let go of the control factor and, instead, realize the teaching and learning potential information technology can unleash. Knowing the subject matter is no longer sufficient in reaching one's full potential as an instructor in the classroom. People who innovate and create in cyberspace likely will not sit still for a lecture.

In order to be a successful educator of the Net Gen, I will have to relinquish control and let the world be my students' teacher. The world truly is at the fingertips of those who choose to access the infinite supply of information out in cyberspace. I can guide my students and encourage them in their learning experience on the Internet. I can help them have a truly liberating experience via the World Wide Web and we will all grow in a much more immediate and authentic experience of inquiry.