Talkin' about my generation

Monday's night's R685 class will be discussing neomillennials and generational learning styles. In my portion of the class, I will be reviewing the outcome of three quizzes that assess the students' digital nativeness, if you will. My job is to tell the students what this all means (good luck with that). So, in preparation, I have been reviewing some of the articles I've collected on the topic of the generational myth for my qualifying. One short piece I was re-reading tonight was written by Siva Vaidhyanathan, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia.

In his article aptly titled, "Generational Myth," Viadhyanathan dismisses the notion of a digital native. He beings his argument by pointing to books that tout the existence of these tech-savvy individuals, and then counters those claims by pointing to his own classroom experiences and interactions with students. According to Viadhyanathan, today's students are not a homogeneous group in terms of technological skills. Sure, they know how to access Google, but how effectively are they really using it? This is not to say that Viadhyanathan has not encountered students who possess multiple gadgets and are adept at using them. He has. But, he has also met students who cannot afford many of these devices or simply prefer a more non-technical option (i.e., instead of reading online, they prefer a printed copy).

Viadhyanathan also points to statistics to support his argument. He notes that most high school graduates do not go on to graduate from a four-year institution with a bachelor's degree. Are college grads more tech-savvy than their non-college degreed peers? What about Bill Gates? He doesn't have a bachelor's degree. Viadhyanathan goes on to suggest that for any generation there are examples of those who embrace technology and those who do not. Sam and Zack are perfect examples of this. Based on some generational charts, both fall in the Generation Y category. Sam is not into technology, but Zack is. The other day, Sam called to say he learned how to scan a file and turn it into a PDF. He also learned how to use a flash drive. His first few weeks as a doctoral nursing students and already he's accomplished a lot.

As the article nears the conclusion, Viadhyanathan mentions scholars who have written about this topic as well. Eszter Hargittai, Susan Herring, and Kathryn C. Montgomery are just a few of the scholars mentioned. Also included in this discussion are Howe and Strauss - authors known for their generational books and their thoughts on the Millennials. As Viadhyanathan points out, the generational categories conveniently carve out target markets for corporatations. However, the dates that differentiate one generation from another are arbitrary. And what does it mean if you're on a Generation Jones according to one timeline and a Generation X according to another? The baby boom was an actual event, but what about Generation X? What event was that - slackerfest?

Not only are the generation dates arbitrary, but so are the quizzes. Based on the results of one quiz, I was a Baby Boomer; however, another one determined that I was a Millennial. The funny thing is that I am neither. Maybe it's because I'm just a misplace zygote.