Tapscott (part 1 & 2)

Being a part of the Net Generation, I find so much of this book to reflect my life. I am definitely one of those people who have lots of things going at once. I do my homework with the TV or music on, multiple windows open on my computer, and often eating dinner at the same time. I do not find these things distracting. I am used to it. One of the interesting things I read in the first part of the book was in chapter 4, The Net Generation Brain. There is one part in particular that discusses how video gamers notice more, they have more highly developed spatial skills, good for engineering and architecture, and they are quicker at switching tasks, quick at finding things on the Internet, and their mind seems incredibly flexible and multimedia savvy. (This is all on page 98) I find this very interesting. I think this shows the different ways that the Net Generation learns. We may not read as many books, but we read more information on the Internet. We may not concentrate on just one thing at a time, but we are doing many things, still getting them all done, just in a different manner than an older generation may be used to. Technology, including the internet and video games is not turning us into zombies as some may say. It instead is giving us more opportunity to learn. There is so much more information to take in than any of our parents ever had.

In the second part of the book Tapscott discusses several issues surrounding the Net Generation including their education, their work ethic, them as consumers, and their family life. I have not yet finished all of part two, but what I’ve read so far is very interesting. Tapscott explains how the education system is 100 years behind the level of the students. I find this so true! It seems as though some of the teachers aren’t up to speed enough on technology to take advantage of it and teach the students. They are trying to lecture students for an hour straight and expect them to pay attention. The net generation is so used to multi-tasking that lecturing is no longer the most effective way of teaching. Personally, I have such a hard time paying attention to a completely lecture based class. Most of the teachers of the DTC program are up to speed with technology, which makes sense, they are teaching a technology based degree. But I have taken a class where the teacher didn’t even use a computer. He used a typewriter. Yes, a typewriter! Anyways, I think in order to effectively teach the Net Generation, teachers need to be on the ball with technology. They also need to be able to switch from topic to topic in order to keep the attention of the students.

As far as the Net Generation as consumers goes, we are completely different than the generation of boomers. We do product checks on the web, or we ask our friends their advice on products. Also, we TiVo tv shows or watch them online, reducing the number of ads we see. Going into a career where designs, including ads, logos, event posters, or things of the sort may come up, this is something to keep in mind. When selling a product to the Net Generation you have got to get their attention right away and get your message across in a matter of seconds. The Net Generation is just so much different than any generation in the past. They learn differently, shop differently, and have different expectations of the workplace. And I’m sure when the next generation comes along, things will change yet again.

A Better Pencil.. (part 2)

In the last chapters of A Better Pencil, it talks more about digital writing, whether it be email, blogs, Facebook, or whatever you prefer. The book mentions that because writing is so much easier, more and more people are writing. And, essentially, anyone can be an author. Not everyone may get many readers, but that is not preventing them from writing.

So, with anyone and everyone writing/blogging on the web, how do we know what to read. How do we filter out the unnecessary information floating on the web. There is a section that talks about Too Much Information in chapter 11 i believe. I think this is becoming the case today. There is too much information to sift through on the web. It's hard to know what to believe and what sources are really credible. How can we ensure that anything we read on the web is true, or is that even possible to prove?

Going back to TMI... I think that because everyone thinks they are an author, they are posting more and more useless information on the web. Take Facebook for example, I have friends on there that post random status updates... ALL the time. This is where the lines begin to get blurred between public and private spaces. It seems that the more you post online, the less private your life is. And eventually, privacy could be nonexistent. Scary.

So the book is titled A Better Pencil, what will be the next better pencil? What comes after digital text?? I'd love to know.

A Better Pencil.. (part 1)

I found this quite an interesting read. Through the reading we can see the first uses of writing up to how we use writing today. For everything! Important or not, it seems as though we write down most everything. Either typed out on our computer or printed out by hand. After reading these few chapters, it is easy to say that we have it easy. As each stage of writing passes, the next stage gets more efficient. And right now, I feel writing is at its most efficient stage. Going from carving out stone tablets, to using papyrus, to pencil and paper and now to digital writings has really sped up the process it takes to write or publish something substantial.

It also raises the question as to the importance of hand writing. As long as I remember we have had computers in school. When I was in third grade I remember every week we would go to the computer lab and do typing lessons. My teacher didn’t want us to end up like her… a hunt and peck typer. This was also the same year I learned how to write in cursive. What a coincidence. Aside from having to write cursive in school, to merely show that I knew how to write it, I have never needed to use it, besides signing my name occasionally. If I was learning to type at age 8 or 9, how young are children learning these skills today. Will they even spend much time learning to hand write or will that become a thing of the past?? Personally, I prefer to hand write some things. Sometimes my ideas just flow better that way. This is not true for everyone though. Written notes and typed out letters are more and more common these days.

I wonder how many people actually get hand written letters in the mail anymore. Has that become a past-time?? I enjoy getting letters in the mail. When I get a letter in the mail, which is not too often, I think of it as something really special.

It seems as though most everyone is doing away with hand writing. From paying bills online, sending email instead of letters in the mail, scheduling things on the calendar of their phone. We are going paperless. If this is the case, what will be the next stage of writing?? It’s something to think about.