The Net Generation and Teacher Training

Abstract

Since the Internet era began, a growing number of innovations have impacted our society, and they are rapidly transforming the way in which people work, study and communicate. Web 2.0, social network and social web are all terms used to indicate a change in the role of ‘networks’ within society, rather than a technological evolution. This development has been widely discussed by the scientific community, especially after the publication of Marc Prensky’s article: “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” (Prensky, 2001), where Prensky suggests that today’s students think and process information in a completely different way from previous generations of students; this difference, according to Prensky, is the direct result of being born in the digital age, and having always used the technologies which surround us, like the computer, video games, digital music players, cell phones and so on.