Grown Up Digital–Conclusions
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” Samuel Johnson
In this final review of Don Tapscott’s Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, we’ll look at some conclusions Tapscott reached based on his $4 million research project.
In chapter 4 he looks at the Net Gen brain. Extensive research was conducted on the ways in which video games and exposure to digital technology affects the brain. Video game playing improves “hand-eye coordination, quickens reaction times, and benefits peripheral vision” (102). These skills are essential in several high paying professional fields like mathematics, engineering, sculpting and architecture. Video game playing also aids in the training of surgeons. Surgeons being trained in laparoscopic techniques who were video game players learned exceedingly quicker and made fewer errors than their non-video game playing colleagues. “In fact, the researchers found that a surgeon’s game-playing experience was a better predictor of his or her future success at laparoscopic surgery than was years of experience” (102). Most appendectomies are performed laparoscopically nowadays.
Tapscott sums up by saying the digital immersion can “help them to develop critical thinking skills, the ones you need to navigate in today’s fast-paced information saturated world” (111).
If all you read was the criticism of the Net Generation you might conclude that they are a “bunch of dull, celebrity-obsessed, net-addicted, shopaholic exhibitionists with a taste for violence, online and offline.” But if we examine the TV watching habits of the baby boom generation, who spent more than 22 hours a week watching, we can see that there is hope for the Net Generation after all. Viewing TV is passive. Hunting for information, playing video games, and chatting with friends online require attention, thought and scrutiny.
The most popular games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Halo, professional sports games, etc. are collaborative in nature. Even if you’re competing you’re competing with people and not against the computer since all of those games come with online capacities. To be a worthy player of some of these games you have to apply many of the skills that are necessary for success in the educational system and in the workplace. Collaboration, strategizing, long-term planning, organizing, discovering. What student or professional doesn’t use any of these skills?
The Net Generation is no worse morally or intellectually than any previous generation. In fact raw IQ scores have increased and there are more students than ever taking AP classes. The problem is that the characterization of the Net Generation is without foundation. Cynics’ “scorn is without basis” (304).
Tapscott’s research is certainly refreshing. I had a few teachers that characterized my generation as the dumbest generation. As a result I read as many books as I could to prove them wrong. It wasn’t necessary. I’ve found my generation to be as bright and innovative as any other generation I’ve interacted with. It manifests itself in different forms and in different skills. We may not have the skills that the older generation deems necessary, like making a switch from a branch:), but having grown up digital makes us well equipped to handle any digital advances in the school and work world.
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