Gail Yerbic is Head of Youth Services for Mesa County Libraries in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Reach her at gyerbic@mcpld.org
In my workplace, we plan our library for the near future (the typical three year strategic plan) with little talk about carrying the torch to the next generation. Nationally we do not want to leave big debt to our underlings, but, oops--too late. To help them dig out, I say we lead our next generation of youth down their natural path to success by simply paying attention to what they are doing now and helping them put their experience into perspective. Parents groom children to meet the needs of the society in which the parents live—like the adage, "do unto others as you wish them to do unto you." I say we must do unto our younger generations as they should be done unto.
The reality
S. Jones and S. Fox of the Pew Internet and American Life Project say that “The web continues to be populated largely by younger generations, as over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old” (2009). This trend leads me to believe that kids are already seasoned online users by the time they hit 18. Certainly my observation of kids’ computer use in the library supports the assertion that kids spend lots of time online. A large majority of studies look at the safety issues surrounding kids online and, while this is important, we also need to look at how their internet use is subtly forming their natural character and style as they relate the their external worlds.
Here’s what kids are doing online…
Online gaming is wildly popular, and even if kids are not playing games, they are using e-mail to communicate daily. They chat and blog and find communities of other kids who share the same interests. They join social networks and some even create their own web pages. The magic age range when they become “savvy” seems to be a year or two before they hit their teens—past the Barbie stage but right in the middle of lovin’ Legos.
And lego.com is right on cue. According to USA Today (2009), “Later this year, the site will host a new massively multiplayer online world, LEGO Universe. LEGO fans can submit creations on the site now for the MMO game. Already here is the LEGO Club, which is about to add e-mail alerts for product news and events, and My LEGO Network, a social network that lets kids create a page a la Facebook.”
Our future workforce…Many skills are required to function in online environments—communication, social and reading comprehension. Games often initiate critical thinking and multi-layered problem solving, learning and memory retention. Now there’s a nice package of core competencies.
In today’s work world, social network analysis is a remedy to invigorate work environments to better meet their goals. R. Cross (2002) suggests that integrating social polarities within a workplace can become a powerful organizational tool because as the barriers of the unknown or assumed are placed into a workable arena, the information can be used to improve overall effectiveness. How does all this relate to social development within the online venue? Will our emerging generation have better opportunities for natural passage into successful social networking in their professional lives? Or is their largely market-driven online activity creating unforeseen crippling effects?
Relating this to Organizational Theory…
The Symbolic Interpretive Theory is a player in this organizational analysis, because subjective perceptions arising from case studies will offer the depth to shed light on this potential paradigm shift. Participant culture will also be an essential consideration when evaluating how early internet use will influence their professional lives later.
All of this will be contingent upon environments because of the vast number of variables to be gleaned and examined alongside how isolated variables or grouped with other variables produce change. Current leaders of organizations, should be prepared to embrace our upcoming cyber-generation with flexibility and anticipation, reducing uncertainty by helping through awareness to do more than “make the best of it,” but to actually be proactive in “creating the best of it.”
Sources
Hatch, M. J., (with Cunliffe, A. L.) (2006). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Jones, S. and Fox, s. "Generatins Online in 2009." Jan. 28, 2009 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Generations_2009.pdf
"New at other kids' websites." USA Today Jan. 27, 2009
1 comment:
Your final comment about "creating the best of it" rather than "making the best of it" struck a chord with me. Most of what kids do on the Internet is considered a waste of time by adults, but something you have to put with because it's too hard to keep them from it. Offering games at the library isn't just a way to get kids in the doors, it's a potential educational tool, teaching core competencies, as you said. The library is actually a wonderful venue for gaming because there it is possible to create opportunities to teach kids to be conscious, critical information consumers, and not the passive sponges they're more likely to be on the couch at home. We have to change our thinking to embrace it and make it work for us as parents and educators.
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