Growing up in the Ditital Age Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Growing up in the Ditital Age - Research Paper Example Net Generation is a force for social transformation from education and work to collaborations and socialization. With their reflexes trained for speed and freedom, Net-Genre is empowered to transform the world from inside out. They are already transforming society, from education and workplace to marketplace and family, they are influencing every aspect of modern life. They are replacing the culture of control with a culture of enablement (Tapscott 6).This paper explores the influences of Net Generation on education, work and family as discussed in Don Tapscott's remarkable book, "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing World". Net Generation (1977-1997) People born during 1946 and 1964 are called baby-boomers who became TV Generation (Leung 107). Gen X consists of adults between the ages of 32 and 43.They are highly aggressive communicators and media-centered. Gen X is media (TV, radio, film, and internet) savvy and their habits resemble to Net Generation. Gen X is foll owed by Net Generation, the children of baby boomers. The Net Generation consists of children born between January 1977 and December 1997. In these 21 years, 81.1 million children were born who make 27 percent of the U.S. population called Millennials or Generation Y. They have outnumbered the baby-boomers adults. This Net Generation is entirely different from all other generations in history since they are born in a digital environment (Tapscott 2).As Tapscott puts it, "they are bathed in bits that they think it's all part of the natural landscape"(2). Currently, the Net Generation constitutes 30 percent of the total population as compared to 29 percent of their parents' baby boomers generation. As a rival to boomers and their culture, it is imparting huge cultural influences. However, the huge impact is not due to the size but Net Generation's ability to grow in an age of revolution in telecommunication. Boomer parents engaged with a new technology in their formative years like te levision, however, it was much more limited in its scope.Net Generation is exposed to an entirely different context and environment as compared to their parents and grandparents (Denton et al. 2). Net Generation has eight basic characteristics that make them stand out from their boomer parents and other generations. They accolade freedom and freedom to choose, they believe in customization and collaborations. They prefer a conversation rather than a lecture. They scrutinize and insist on integrity. They believe in having fun, no matter if it's school or work. They need speed and innovation (Tapscott 6). Changing ways of Communication Members of Net Generation are between the ages of 11 and 31 now. They multi-task quite heavily and use technology in a different way. For Net-Genre, mobile phone are not for calling and emailing, they use it for texting, surfing web, finding directions, taking pictures, making videos, and collaborating with others. They hang out on Facebook, MySpace, an d Skype. Everyone is as cyber-sophisticated as the next person is. They turn to internet for everything they need (Tapscott 9). Education System The Net-Gen is the most ethnically diverse, largest, and the most female dominated college population in the history (O'Donnell qtd. in Tapscott 123). Unlike baby-boomers' cramming model of seeking knowledge, Net-Generation is facing a fast-paced age of information technology where one has