As someone that grew along with the internet, I didn't think there would be something so ingrained in its culture that I was so oblivious to. I mean, I watched Chocolate Rain and Shoes by Kelly on YouTube back in 2006. I've been on Twitter for eleven years. I made the transition from AIM to MySpace and was on Facebook when it was exclusive to students.
I wasn't quite the digital natives like Gen Z, but as a young Millennial, I felt I knew it all. Web 2.0? Never heard of it.
Without knowing it, however, Web 2.0 had shaped my online world for decades. Almost every aspect of my digital dealings were within this sphere. But what is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is interactive. It is defined as participatory web where the focus is on user-created content. Web 2.0 is sharing photos on Instagram and fake news on Facebook and self-degrading humor on Twitter. Social Media, something my phone tells me I spend 5 hours a week scrolling through, is only one example of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 stretches past these into much more.
Gen Z grew up knowing only a life with some form of social media. They are truly digital natives. Gen Z loves social media and they check it daily. Integrating something they love in a way that is meaningful to their learning? That undoubtedly would check off a few boxes in motivation and attention.
I find it interesting that you mention the generations in your post. I talk about the generations with my students often. Their current generation is often faulted for always being on their devices and being distracted, but how can we blame them for something they have always known? They grew up with these devices shoved in their faces. They have known how to use them since they were a few months old and been stimulated by them since birth. I myself am part of the micro-generation that falls between Gen X and the Millennials- Xennials. The advantage of our generation was the best of both worlds. We had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. I grew up watching technology develop and come to be. I was part of history. From pay phones, to pagers, to the first cell phone and video game systems(and dial up modems and chat rooms). It has been quite an amazing journey to be a part of.
ReplyDeleteHi Jess,
DeleteI appreciate you sharing your experience as a Xennial! Within my work, I had the pleasure of training a great group of Xennials and I always find them to be the most proud of their little cohort. I agree that younger generations have always known technology and that isn't something that should be held against them. I think if more people or traditional education played into this fact more instead of trying to disconnect learners that we as a society could leverage them in a way never before seen.