Educating the Net Generation: How to Engage Students in the 21st Century

by Bob Pletka

Educating the Net How to Engage Students in the 21st Century addresses the national problem of escalating high-school dropout rates and student disengagement, and offers solutions as to how to best involve students of the millennial generation. The book examines the unique characteristics of the Net Generation and explains how the educational expectations and needs of the Net Generation differ from their Gen-X parents and Baby Boomer grandparents. It also looks at why many students resist engaging in formalized education in schools and ultimately drop out.

Chapters featuring student interviews and photographs synthesize the perspectives of current high school students regarding their experiences, beliefs, and thoughts on learning, while a parallel set of parent interviews reveals what parents feel is important in their child’s education and how they would like to see schools engage their children in learning.

Recommendations for changes in school policy and the financial investment critical to turning the situation around are also included, along with an inventory/ checklist for parents, teachers, and school administrators to determine if their individual school environment has what it takes to keep students motivated and engaged.

Genres: Education

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sebah Al-Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was mainly a reflection of his personal experience. Many arguments that he put forth were not supported by literature or were merely generalizations.

Quotes that I found interesting from the book:
"Not only are the curriculum and content in question, but the process by which the Net Generation is educated is also suspect. Because the Net Generation has been shaped by an environment that is information and communication rich, team-based, achievement-oriented, visually based, and instantly responsive, they often recoil from isolated, lectured-based, information-dated, responsive-deficient silos of learning comprised of outdated technologies from the mid-20th century." (p. 13)


"The problem of student disengagement is rooted in the quality of instruction and learning. Most secondary school student perceive the work they do in school as meaningless" (p. 15).

"The quality of the relationships that students have in class with their peers and teachers is important to their success in school" (p. 17).

..born between 1982 and 2002

"Don Tapscott coined the term "Net Generation" in his book Growing Up Digital to describe a generation shaped by a new, networked, visually rich, digitally constructed communication and information world" (p. 28)


"...this Net Generation more than any other expects a personalized educational setting that meets their needs, provides immediate feedback, and enables them to move at their own rate" (p. 129).

[William Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

Right from the beginning, Pletka is arguing that there is an outrageous drop out rate because students are bored and yawning. So all those drop outs are just too smart and too good for their American schools? Umm. The author argues that American schools are mediocre and provides a checklist for parents at the end that begins with "does your child think his or her teacher is interesting?" I'm not sure how effective a checklist like this is for gauging a student's success. How about those parents model positive habits like reading and continuing their own education? How about the students adjust their attitudes and find some personal drive and motivation to succeed? Why is the apathy epidemic suddenly your school teacher's fault? He says nothing about what's wrong with the culture. The author also plugs technology and considers both tech and collaboration of any sorts the savior of schools. Through all of this, he is now a superintendent, as far away from teaching kids as one could get in education.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good & Relevant Information

Although I got this book some time ago, much of this information is still relevant. This book offers some great insights of how to interact with the Net Generation!! As a Student Affairs Professional in Higher Education, I found this book quite helpful.

[Marfita · Rating 2 out of 5]

The NetGen are even harder to engage than their predecessors, but, aside from adding technology to the mix, what's needed to engage them is less "teaching to the test" and more complex, relevant projects that challenge different skills (language, a subject such as math or history, technology) at the same time. They need to go at their own pace and I know from experience even as an adult that classes only go as fast as the slowest student. Technology can actually help in those instances, because a student can get instant feedback in how they are doing and then get one-on-one tutoring either from the program or the teacher.
I wasn't terribly impressed with the writings of the students themselves - maybe I need to go back and read some of my scribblings (GAH! NOOOOO!!!).

[Wendy James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book focuses directly on disengagement, which is a major issue we are tryign to address through Collegiate Renewal. However, the definition of engagement is sometimes too narrow, and the writing is only okay.Chapter 2 - Obsolescence and Mediocre schools is a good summary of what I have read in other places.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've wondered about this subject being a mother and all. He makes good points, but the book is very repetitive and I'm still not sure of his solutions.

[Lyddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shallow, uncritical, and boring. Although the title doesn't tell you, it only addresses the needs of high school students and offers very few ideas one could take into the classroom.

[Faith Farris · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, I enjoyed most of the book, but I also think this read like a really long article.