New generation's traits and entertainment strategies in digital era

As Tapscott stated in his article Growing up Digital, he states that this generation doesnt want to
passively wait for their TV entertainment, this generation wants to go out and actively participate
in the making and distribution of their entertainment. This is the YouTube generation that
makes and enjoys the sharing of videos, ideas and material. This generation has spawned a
group of people that are capable of creating their own stars and people of interest outside of the
corporate controlled media system. They like the concept of sharing and cooperation to
distribute what they want to watch. They have moved away and are challenging the stratified
structure of the traditional media of top down control. This generation is often referred to as the
millennial generation and they want to get their entertainment for free or for a very low cost and
this issue has led to a conflict with traditional media I call the dinosaur media. This generation
has created and embraced Napster, Bit Torrent sites and other peer to peer sharing sites that snub
their noses at the old rules and media. I believe that this generation would download a car if they
could, and with 3D printing that day may come sooner than we think.
Growing up with the internet, mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices creates a
different market in which parents and companies need to compete to get this generations
attention. The millennials are not only tech savvy but eager to share and learn from each other,
they learn in a cooperative almost viral manner, as one learns they all share and learn and bring
the group along. This generation relies more on their peers for information and guidance than
any previous generation. Not that this group is built different than their parents, its just that they
have access to technology that allows them to interact with more people from diverse groups
than their parents had access to.
This generation is also one of the most ethnically diverse groups in America as technology
overrides social and economic barriers when it comes to information and technical know-how.
Students want to learn and they care less what color of skin the creator of that information has.

As the millennials are more familiar with technology and it has allowed them to adapt and
respond to the ever changing technology. In many cases they are driving the innovations and
technological changes seen in marketing, products and technology. They are able to
communicate easily from e-mail to instant messaging and from texting to tweeting, snap chatting
and using instagram. Tapscott writes about how the baby boomers impacted media and so is this
generation and one of the more public companies being affected is Facebook. Many of this
generation are leaving sites Facebook (https://tinyurl.com/jwlze4w ) in droves as they have
moved onto other sites, perhaps because of Facebooks incredible popularity with an older group
that that makes Facebook less cool for this one.

The millennials having grown up on games that require the user to continuously solve new
problems, to work collaboratively and the games rewards the user for their efforts. This
generation has done this game play in conjunction with extreme multitasking; chatting, texting
watching media such as social media, online entertainment, video chatting, homework and old-
fashioned television. As students have learned to function at this level at home they have
difficulty getting focused while at school and has led to millennials being described as having
short attention spans and a need to be constantly entertained or worse, medicated on ADD or
ADHD pharmaceutical drugs. So to engage these students many schools and Universities are
changing the way they teach, they create environments where the course is problem based and
the course material includes collaboration, interaction, as well as allowing for more student input
to course material and design (Brown 2001). The millenials learn using their own language, one
based on words, images and sound, they like to learn by doing not reading it in a book. Brown
discusses how this generation wants to learn and practice the material at the same time; I dont
believe that that is any difference from when I was in high school as I would ask why am I
learning this and where and how will I use it? The only difference is that this generation has
access to peer to peer on line learning groups, access to information outside of school and
technology that supports information and application of said learning at the same time. This
technology and the desire by some institutions to embrace the change supports the ideas that
knowledge is acquired when students construct new understandings about their world through
exploration, experimentation, discussion and reflection (Resnick, 2002). Brown (2001) defines
knowledge as something we digest rather than merely hold. When learning occurs through
the acquisition of knowledge, it is retained longer as opposed to simply reciting the facts of a
particular subject, concept or idea, as students now know the why and the how the information
will be used in real life.
In conclusion, I believe that schools need to change to best suit their new generation of learners,
but this change will be a change for the better as we see more of a blend between practical and
theoretical learning taking place at the same time. In the end we will have smarter, more
engaged students and adults.



Rererences:
Brown, J. S. (2001). Learning in the digital age. In The Internet and the University: 2001 Forum
(pp. 65-91). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Publishers.
Resnick, M. (2002). Rethinking learning in the digital age. In G. Kirkman (Ed.), The global
information technology report: Readiness for the networked word. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Don Tapscott. (n.d.). Growing up digital: the rise of the net generation. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html