The Smartest Generation
posted by Carleigh on 6/2/2009 10:33:59 AM
Today I'm blogging live from the
Ypulse Mashup.
An open question to the tweens, teens, and young adults: Are you the smartest generation?
The first day of Ypulse ended with keynote Don Tapscott telling the audience, myself included, how smart we are.
Naturally, I enjoyed it. (How'd he know how smart I am?!?)
And while he presented thorough research as to what makes this digital generation smarter, it boils down to the way that we consume media, and our increasing ability to multi-task and actively participate with the messages we receive.
Later that evening, I had a chance to speak with Tapscott one on one, and he told me about a Rhodes Scholar who didn't much like books. Instead, the young man preferred to find the information he needed online, where he was able to scan through it, find multiple sources, and have more control over his navigation of the information.
10 years ago, a Rhodes Scholar who didn't like books wouldn't be a Rhodes Scholar.
But we live in the digital age, and Tapscott argues that our ability to consume information is shaping a more intelligent (or at least capable) generation.
Tapscott issued a rebuttal of sorts to
this book, which suggests that growing up digital is created a generation of dummies.
Personally, I do not think we are the smartest generation. I do not think we are the dumbest generation. I think we are generation that is growing up in a unique technological environment that continues to change and get more sophisticated. And we're following suit.
But can't the same be said about any generation?
What do you think about the way technology is shaping this generation?