Chapter+2

__Chapter 2__ "The Problem of the Gap" There was a quote in this past Sunday’s //New York Post// that goes like this: “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and Play Stations—none of which I know how to work—information becomes a distraction, a diversion…rather than a tool for empowerment.” The authors of //Understanding the Digital Generation// would agree that the individual who made this statement obviously comes from a nondigital world and clearly does not speak digital as a first language (DFL). The authors also use the analogy of immigrants and how some of us are more adaptable to change while “others struggle to apply old thinking to new ways of doing things, new technologies, and new mindsets” (15). Interestingly, the person who said this quote is the President of our country—the most powerful, if not prolific, man in the world. However, there is no cause for alarm, since my point is that President Obama’s words echo a vast majority of our nation’s mindset, myself included. That is what the authors refer to as a conventional mindset, or what an older generation passes down to a younger generation who unknowingly accepts and inevitably continues to pass on to the next. As the authors suggest though, our “old world” tradition is being challenged by the digital generation, and instead of trying to impose our tradition on the new generation, now is the time, more than ever, to bridge this so-called gap. Because as difficult as it may seem to accept, the secure, but old world, will never be the same. Read the viewpoints of both a mother and her teenage son on this generation's use of technology.[|Inquirer Article]
 * Diane**


 * __Chapters 1 and 2__** - After reading the first two chapters there was one quote that really jumped out at me. In chapter 1, the authors inserted a line from Medina - "Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50 percent longer to accomplish a task. Not only that, he or she makes up to 50 percent more errors." The first thing I thought was, "how true!," as I was rereading the page for a third time because I was on the phone, watching TV, and fixing my fantasy baseball team. I could have been done with the reading assignment if I just put all of my energy and focus toward one task, instead of multitasking. I really hope the error part isn't true though, because I did proof read my post.

After doing some research, I discovered this site. It details Dr. Medina's book, DVD, blog, video clips and more about his 12 brain rules. - Doug

**Chapter 2:** After reading Chapter 2, I began to think about what things were like when I was a child. Obviously, the technology was not as advanced technology as it is today. I do remember having some of the technology kids today have, even though it is much more advanced today (game system-Nintendo, Sega, computer game-SIMS). I think the most important thing we can look at is teaching kids you can’t always multitask, sometimes you need to sit down, and concentrate on only one thing. As basic as it sounds, I think some kid’s cannot discriminate between tasks.
 * Felicia**

**Added Value: **  When we look at the problem of the gap between out generation and future generations we first need to look back at how things were when we were growing up. As our technology keeps advancing, kids are growing up much different than we did. One thing that I found interesting in the chapter is when it said, “We must take a moment to realize we are not in our world anymore. This is a new digital world. It’s not going back to the way it was.” As educators, that leaves with the decision to embrace the new digital generation or enable the gap to grow. Check out the article here

The Gap -With living in the informational age and technology we forget how quickly things are changing around us. Connection with our students is the key to effective instruction. The longer I teach the more I feel I am connecting with my students;now, then when I first started teaching. Also, along with this connecting is also the sense of empathy-if they know we truly have a genuine interest in helping them they tend to put forth a lot more effort in all their work. Once again in this chapter, we hear about "screen to screen" relationships verses" face-to-face." Could this be why there is much loneliness in this generation and boredom? I remember as a kid having a pen-pal from Germany that I wrote to every other month for twelve years which was great fun;however, when our families met in the United States no one could take away the great memories and fun we had with our German friends. Unfortunately, reading has become effected by this digital age and that concerns me as an educator even though we use a lot of digital reading programs. Nothing can replace the escape into a great book or the children's classics of the past. Lastly, it is good to hear that this generation is developing a more "trial and error learning" philosophy. I think that could be a positive for them to create more experimentation and inquiry. This idea of "useful failure" is much improved over our generation seeing failure as being bad. Lee Iacocca you are ahead of your generation.:) Cindy [PDR] Reading in A Digital Age:e-Books Are Students Ready For This
 * Cindy**