Topic > The digital generation - 987

'Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our education system was designed for." The multiple inductions of technology into everyday life have radically altered the thinking process of children. From the very beginning, students are engrossed in technology and smart gadgets in one way or the other. It has been reported that, on average, a college student spent less than 5,000 hours of their life reading compared to 10,000 hours playing video games and over 20,000 hours watching television. (Prensky, 2001) This type of life makes the learning process very fast and these students do not feel comfortable with the old and conventional system of acquiring knowledge. Born into the digital world and having lived in a technology-laden environment all their time, the new generation relies on their gadgets perhaps in a way comparable to their needs for food and water. Considering this abrupt change in behavior and personality, it is of utmost importance that teaching staff and policy makers deeply realize the situation and that appropriate measures are taken to change the learning process accordingly. The influence of technology has broadened the horizons for students to a large extent. The learning process today is by no means limited to the classroom limits alone and is not even bound by the constraints of time. Where this is encouraging in the sense that it allows more and more people to become part of the learning process due to the flexibility associated with it; It is also imperative that courses and programs are designed appropriately for this new definition of time and space. The methods of our predecessors are no longer successful when it comes to teaching the...... middle of paper...... because it will be easier for them to learn things this way. The coming era is primarily the time of web-based learning, as it is flexible and cost-effective. However, it needs to be implemented in a controlled manner to keep things running smoothly and beneficially. There are currently several issues with the web-based classroom environment involving the lack of interaction between students and teachers. As time passes, the phenomenon is improving and the system is becoming more and more interactive. Teachers need to update themselves along these lines. A teacher must be good in their field of specialization and with technology to an extent that makes interaction between students and teachers worthwhile. This is extremely vital to maintain motivation, interest, questions and interaction with students. (Alberto and Tommaso, 2000)