Have you heard of The NET generation...are your kids????...

The New Teen Culture

Are you 22 or younger? Have you ever had to help your parents with the computer? Then you belong to the Net Generation. How is technology changing the lives of people your age around the globe?

America currently contains about 88 million members of the Net Generation. These "N-Geners" are kids who have been manipulating mouses since an early age. While past generations made do with the telephone and television, today's generation has access to those devices and super-realistic video games, the Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, online communities, and videos and music that can be downloaded over a computer.

Thanks to e-mail, many kids communicate daily with pen pals around the globe. Some can download their homework if they miss a day of school. Others have even built their own Web sites. While it's easy to take these activities for granted, this high level of interactivity is shaping the Net Generation's culture, values, and world outlook.

Going Global

While many young Americans and Europeans are used to living in a high-tech world, their peers in developing countries are not. According to the World Bank, about 40% of the world's population have never made a phone call, and 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day. For these people, modern technology means very little.

Six billion people live worldwide. According to the statistic provided by the World Bank, how many of them have never made a phone call? What do you think are the consequences?

Despite the statistics, many companies interested in broadening business markets are working to connect developing countries to the Internet. Other organizations want children and adults in developing countries to have access to the information and resources available on the Web, especially sites that have scientific and educational value.

Pros &Cons of Connectivity

Some critics are concerned that children of developing countries will be adversely affected by the technology invasion set to happen within their borders over the next several years. Much of the material on the Internet is oriented toward the Western values of North America and Europe. This can present a lopsided view of the world, one in which the values and traditions of other cultures become invisible.

Critics worry that as children from South America, Africa, and Asia get massive exposure to Western ideas and values, rifts may develop between them and their parents.

Despite the potential problems, some people take a middle ground, saying that the globalization that would be powered by the Internet is not the same thing as Americanization.

Think of several ways that other countries have affected your life. For example, what foods or music do you enjoy that originated in different countries? What sports do you play that originated in other lands?

Of course there are many benefits of developing countries being linked to the larger world. Scientists and doctors from around the world meet online in "virtual laboratories," to quickly spread medical and scientific news and research.

Overall, do you think better Internet connectivity will help or harm people your age in different countries? Why?

Imagine yourself in college. What skills have you gained by using the Web that you think might be valuable in higher education?

Source: http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2000/10/100400_netgen.jhtml

Did you know about second life and avatar?

Second Life: http://secondlife.com/whatis/
Avatar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)
E-learning resource/Virtual Worlds: http://e-language.wikispaces.com/virtual-worlds

What is Information and Communication Technology (ICT)?

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a term that includes any communication device or application. ICT is any technology that enables communication and the electronic capture, processing, and transmission of information. It encompasses all the technology that facilitates the processing, transfer and exchange of information and communication services such as radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and various other services and applications like videoconferencing and distance learning. ICT and computers is still a hot topic despite the technology being commonplace in society. The use of communication tools such as e-mail, fax, computer, mobile phone, wireless network and videoconferencing are becoming more prominent and their accessibility is increasing rapidly in a fast technologically developing world. These tools overcome barriers of space and time, and open new possibilities for learning.