London (UK), March 2007 - Demos, the UK thinktank for everyday democracy, published an eighty-page report entitled "Their Space: Education for a Digital Generation", written by Hannah Green and Celia Hannon. The report, which focuses on school-aged learners, questions some of the myths that dominate current thinking about technology and education.
Green and Hannon point out that the current generation of decision-makers has a very different perspective on the way that digital technologies are used than the generation of young people. The latter have never known life without the Internet and mobile phone communication. In a knowledge-driven economy, schools, parents, young people, and society in general need to recognise the value of skills such as creativity, communication, presentation skills, and team building.
The second part of the Demos report analyses some myths and misconceptions about the way young people view and use technologies and what impact they have on young peoples' lives.
Digital pioneers are the focus of the third chapter. They are a small group of individuals who are one step ahead of their peers when it comes to pushing the boundaries of conventional technological practice. Digital pioneers redefine learning through specific characteristics like self-motivation or purposeful creativity.
By applying networks, collaboration, co-production, and participation, today's young generation will reinvent the workplace and society. The final chapter names the shift in values that needs to go along with the afore-mentioned developments.
The report's last chapter specifies practical changes government and schools need to make in order to enable real transformation.
