What it means to be "Wired"

When someone asks me what it means to be "wired" I would say "I drank to much coffee." That is the answer from a digital immigrant. I am merely a visitor in this world of digital natives and the net generation. The individuals who make up this group are computer savvy, function better if it can be online, text messaged or downloaded. The days of printing off a paper and highlighting mistakes are over. They do not know how to operate a micro fiche (like I do) or what it truly means to use only the Dewey Decimal system. Does this mean they are wrong in their styles and their learning? No. They just learn differently. They learn very hands on, they must be shown. However, the articles are very adamant with the fact that in the eyes of the digital native, the digital aspect is very important but that does not excuse a bad teacher. The human interaction is still very important.
I think the concept of the digital native and net generation is similar to the concept of learning that the digital immigrant uses just in a more technical sense. Do I wish that I had all of this growing up? Well, yes, now that I am in the midst of it and most of the time have no idea what is going on. Do I think that I suffered because I did not? No. I have memories of being in the library and physically searching for a book. I have the ability to learn new things ( maybe I will never be as good as my 3 year old at them) but the digital natives may never know what a card catalog looks like. I understand that learning has changed and according to the text the digital immigrant's brain is even set up differently but I am a firm believer in nothing I have learned being a complete waste.
I have a feeling of fright in these new concepts. This is a digital native speaking but I fear the computer shut down while I am studying my text book for this very class and I do not have a hard copy to read. Then what? I fear the failure of my flash drive because it gets too close to the scanner at Giant and all of my info is gone. I fear putting all of my faith into a machine. I fear for the children of the Net Generation who do not know what to do if their computers do not work or they can not get service on their cell phones. They do not know what it is like to have to wait to talk to their friends until they get home or not to be able to check Twitter to see what Lindsay Lohan is shopping for. The digital natives are unequipped for life outside of the "network". They no longer have to make friends the old way, walking in and shaking hands, they can break the ice by being a different person on the Internet. I can not say if I feel it is right or wrong. Just different.
The concepts all make sense. The technology is there and it can be amazing when it comes to learning. I just can not help worrying about the rise in every diagnosis possible in children. If you do not have an IEP or you are not on your meds for your ADD you are a minority. The saying on the T-shirt mentioned in the reading "It is not attention deficit-I'm just not paying attention to you" plays continuously in my mind. The discussion of the half life of knowledge also scares me. When I learned how to do statistics in college without using a calculator I thought my professor was into torture but now I realize I will always know how to do those problems and it does not matter what changes. Sure, he could have showed me what to do on the calculator but with a new version and different software I may have only been familiar with it until I had to upgrade.
My thoughts are this, technology is fantastic but good old fashioned work never hurt anyone. It is not always necessary to have instant gratification. A person learns patience and appreciation sometimes if they have to spend time on something. This is all new to me. I do not know that I like not having a textbook in my hands. I even printed out my reading list so I could mark off what I read (old habits die hard). But who is right and who is wrong? Not sure. I know I am comfortable the old way but willing to learn and use the new. Maybe the Net Gen should be comfortable with the new but willing and required to learn the old as well.