Reflections on "Generation IM: Getting through to today's teched-out children"

This is sooo true! Children today have grown up in a completely different world from their parents and their teachers. I do agree that children's' brains most likely have developed differently from their parents due to how they grew up. How to effectively teacher today's students is a huge dilemma today for teachers. Fortunetely, we are closing the gap on the technological divide. New teachers from here on out are more similar to today's students because they too grew up in a world full of technologies (grated, not as much). The 13-year old describes as doing research on the computer, IMing a friend and listening to music all at the same time was supposed to sound somewhat shocking, but to me it did not. That same description fits me too. Right now I am writting this blog (homework), listening to music (Michael Buble), and talking to my friend overseas via IM. I guess this is a good thing beacuse it means I am similar to my future students to some degree.
Today primarily everything is done on the internet regarding research. I remember when we did use encyclopedias (all the way back in 5th grade). I guess that is going to be one of the fun things I will be able to tell my grandchildren . . . "When I was your age we had to look facts up in a book." And then they will reply "What's a book?"
Beacuse of the way children are today, it is important to integrate technology into the classroom and into lessons. Students will no doubt be able to understand and grasp the material better and they will be able to relate to it. The key to success with integrating technology is to provide proper training for teachers on how to use all these fancy technologies.