techdirections May 2010 : Page 38

Welcome to the . . . iGeneration! By Larry Rosen ends. Although there is universal agreement on the Baby Boomer gen- eration (1946-1964) and most people agree that Generation X started in 1965 and ended around 1979, after that it gets murky. In my research, I believe that the “Net [Internet] Gen- eration” started in 1980. Others have called this Generation Y, Millennial Generation, and Generation M, but I think the defining feature has always been the importance of the Internet in the lives of these children, teens, and young adults. D Right behind the Net Generation is the “iGeneration” named after all the devices with an “i”—iPod, iPhone, iTouch, iEverything—plus these children’s thirst for any new mobile technology. Little research has been done on these preschool and elemen- tary school-aged children, but our Larry Rosen is professor of psy- chology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is also author of four books, including Rewired: Un- derstanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn (Palgrave Macmil- lan, 2010). Condensed, with permis- sion, from Rosen’s “The Psychology of Technology” blog, August 27, 2009. Reprinted from The Education Di- gest, April 2010. For more about The Education Digest or to subscribe, visit www.eddigest.com. 38 techdirections ◆ MAY 2010 EFINING and under- standing a generation of Americans has always been difficult until years after the generation interviews with parents of more than 2,000 of them show that they are em- bracing technology and media much earlier than their older brothers and sisters. To put it simply, children have grown up in an environment where technology is everywhere and much of it is invisible. Most children and adolescents have grown up with the largest store- house of information in history—the Internet—and from an early age they learned to play online games, send email to grandma, and watch videos. Later, they learned to Google anything they wanted to know, Map- Quest directions, go to Wikipedia for school reports, and use dictionary. com for definitions. Many have never used a card catalog, a “real” encyclo- pedia, or Webster’s Dictionary. To children and teenagers, the Internet Technology and 4 to 8 Media Hours/Day Online On Computer Email IM/Chat Telephone Texting Video Games Music Television Total Daily Media and Technology Use Year Olds 0:27 0:23 0:06 0:05 0:17 0:07 1:32 0:42 1:56 has always been just a click away, and they use it for a variety of pur- poses that are beyond the scope of anything imagined just a decade ago. At the George Marsh Applied Cognition Laboratory, we have done extensive research on generational differences over the past few years and have chronicled our work on my website (www.Me-MySpace-and- I.com). We are particularly inter- ested in similarities and differences between this new, young generation of kids and the youngest members of the Net Generation—those still in middle school or high school. The table below shows the num- ber of hours elementary and second- ary school students spend using a variety of media from several studies of thousands of children, teens, and their parents. The teenagers supplied 9 to 12 13 to 15 16 to 18 Year Olds Year Olds 0:59 0:57 0:26 0:28 0:43 0:46 2:07 1:24 1:56 5:35 9:46 1:58 1:44 1:08 1:24 Year Olds 2:24 1:59 1:19 2:16 1:07 1:50 2:19 3:32 1:20 2:49 1:58 1:17 3:33 2:10 15:47 20:20

Welcome to the IGeneration

DEFINING and understanding a generation of Americans has always been difficult until years after the generation ends. Although there is universal agreement on the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) and most people agree that Generation X started in 1965 and ended around 1979, after that it gets murky. In my research, I believe that the “Net [Internet] Generation” started in 1980. Others have called this Generation Y, Millennial Generation, and Generation M, but I think the defining feature has always been the importance of the Internet in the lives of these children, teens, and young adults.

Right behind the Net Generation is the “iGeneration” named after all the devices with an “i”—iPod, iPhone, iTouch, iEverything—plus these children’s thirst for any new mobile technology. Little research has been done on these preschool and elementary school-aged children, but our interviews with parents of more than 2,000 of them show that they are embracing technology and media much earlier than their older brothers and sisters. To put it simply, children have grown up in an environment where technology is everywhere and much of it is invisible.

Most children and adolescents have grown up with the largest storehouse of information in history—the Internet—and from an early age they learned to play online games, send email to grandma, and watch videos. Later, they learned to Google anything they wanted to know, Map- Quest directions, go to Wikipedia for school reports, and use dictionary.

Com for definitions. Many have never used a card catalog, a “real” encyclopedia, or Webster’s Dictionary. To children and teenagers, the Internet has always been just a click away, and they use it for a variety of purposes that are beyond the scope of anything imagined just a decade ago.

At the George Marsh Applied Cognition Laboratory, we have done extensive research on generational differences over the past few years and have chronicled our work on my website (www.Me-MySpace-and-

I. com). We are particularly interested in similarities and differences between this new, young generation of kids and the youngest members of the Net Generation—those still in middle school or high school.

The table below shows the number of hours elementary and secondary school students spend using a variety of media from several studies of thousands of children, teens, and their parents. The teenagers supplied Larry Rosen is professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is also author of four books, including Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn (Palgrave Macmillan,

2010) . Condensed, with permission, from Rosen’s “The Psychology of Technology” blog, August 27, 2009.

Reprinted from The Education Digest, April 2010. For more about The Education Digest or to subscribe, visit www.eddigest.com.
Their own estimates, while parents did for younger children.

The data in the table, which are consistent across other major research studies, are striking as you see technology and media consumption rise from roughly 5-1/2 hours a day for the youngest children to more than 20 hours a day for the older teens. Clearly, teenagers are not using each technology one at a time. They have mastered the art of multitasking, allowing them to watch television, text message friends, listen to music, surf the Web, chat on MySpace and Facebook, watch YouTube videos, all at the same time.

The data in this table reflect the staggering amount of media that children are consuming on a daily basis.

Before looking at specific media activities of the younger generation, it is instructive to look at the “older” generations. According to our research studies, Baby Boomers spend about 9-1/2 hours daily with media, Generation Xers spend 15 hours per day, and older Net Geners (18- to 29- years-old) consume nearly 20 media hours per day. All generations are using media and technology with the iGeneration and younger Net Geners leading the way.

Returning to the four groups of students, several things stand out. For one, there is a major jump in online activity between the pre-teen and teen years. While 9- to 12-year-olds are online an hour a day, older siblings spend more than double that visiting websites along with four hours communicating online through email, instant messaging, and chatting, and 5+ hours using the cell phone for calls and text messaging. What is on their computer screens while they are surfing cyberspace? High school students spend upwards of 30 hours a week online, mostly for entertainment and socializing with friends. They spend one to two hours a day communicating on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

Another interesting trend is the increasing use of all communication tools including email, instant messages, chats, telephone calls, and text messages. All told, 5- to 8-year-olds communicate “electronically” 1/2 hour a day, which increases to nearly 2-1/2 hours for 9- to 12-year-olds, more than 6 hours for 13- to 15-yearolds, and a whopping 8-1/2 hours a day for the 16- to 18-year-olds. In addition, teenagers now spend more time sending text messages from their cell phones than actually talking on them.

According to a 2009 national survey by Nielsen Mobile, U.S. teens send or receive an average of 2,899 text messages a month compared with making or receiving only 191 cell phone calls. A Harris Interactive national survey of teens has even shown that 47% of 2,089 nationallysampled teens could compose text messages blindfolded.

This is an extremely important issue in understanding how best to parent and educate our youth. Communication is a key element in their lives. Several other trends are obvious and noteworthy. Music becomes increasingly important as children Move into adolescence, as does text messaging. Watching television appears to be more popular among the younger teens than any other group, as is video game playing.

Another issue is where children actually use media. Universally, psychologists and educators caution against allowing young children to ensconce themselves in bedroom “Techno-Cocoons” for a variety of reasons including parental monitoring and safety. However, my most recent studies of more than 1,300 parents of children and teens between the ages of 6 months and 18 years indicates that many younger children own and use technology behind closed bedroom doors. The figure above shows the percentages of private/personal technology usage.

Several numbers leap out of this table. First, more than a third of children under the age of 5 have a television in their bedrooms as do two-thirds of children, pre-teens, and teenagers. Second, more than half the school-aged children—up to the early teens—have a video game console and a handheld video game player. Half the pre-teen students have their own cell phone and iPod, which increases to nearly all of the teenagers. Third, although only one in four 9- to 12-year-olds have a computer in their bedrooms, that increases to nearly half of all high school students.

One thing that is clear from our research is that there may be two halves of the Net Generation—those Their Private “Techno-Cocoons” 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% TV in Computer in Own Cell iPod Video Game Bedroom Bedroom Phone Console 4–8 9–12 13–15 16–18 who have graduated from high school and those still in secondary school. There appear to be striking commonalities in the way elementary and secondary students embrace media and technology and it all surrounds their online and communication world. They are constantly “wired”—or “unwired,” since most of the technologies they use are wireless— and they are omnipresent in their cyberworlds.

In my new book, Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and How They Learn, I argue that these technologies are available for educators to consider as delivery vehicles for classroom content and homework.

Combining the bedroom technologies with the extensive media use by these students leaves a variety of vehicles that educators might choose to use for delivering virtual content, having virtual classroom discussions, and completing assignments from anywhere in the world.

The time has come for us to put together solid, research-based ideas and form a coherent plan for supercharging education. We now have the know-how to provide an educational experience—both inside and outside the classroom—that is motivating, captivating, and engaging. We can no longer ask our children to live in a world where they are immersed in technology in all parts of their lives except at school. We must rewire education or we risk losing this generation of media-immersed, techsavvy students.

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