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create, promote, and sustain a dynamic, digital-age learning culture that provides a rigorous, relevant, and engaging education for all students. Educational Administrators:

teachers who consider themselves savvy in this digital age become frustrated with those who would rather not change their habits of teaching.This frustration is understandable, but it is nonetheless unhealthy.

A operator within the realm of social media who has not internalized it as a habit of life will be as successful at understanding social media as an illiterate is at understanding a newspaper.

he majority of teachers and admins opposed to social tech integration are those for whom social media itself has not become a habit of life. It is not that they are inherently 'against' whatever it is that social media suggests; if anything, they have so little understanding of it in the first place that 'engagement' is moot.

"It is how they perceive [the web] that makes them different in my opinion," he explains. "Many older people use the web, of course, but for digital natives the web is an integral part of their lives. They go there first, instinctively. And yes, some are better at it than others. I definitely agree that there is a continuum of capabilities among the digital natives. But if we are talking about what makes them different from previous generations, I believe it is this connection to the web."

She says this group of learners is more globally aware, thanks to the internet, and more adept at collaborative uses of the web.

"This generation definitely has a thematic approach to learning," she says, "which is not about, 'I'm a vessel--go ahead and fill me up.' It's about, 'I'm the master of my own educational destiny. Give me lots of input and I'll find what I think is most important.' Most of the [K-12] schools I talk to still believe that they are the custodians of knowledge. But for these kids, increasingly, [schools] are just one more source of input."

"They go to a website and look something up,

Certainly, there is no clinical evidence to back up any claims about physical changes in the brains of today's traditional-age students. But educators are providing anecdotal evidence of a shift in how students approach learning and education in general.

Dr. Townshend: What the hell's this all about? Dr. Kelso: Nothing! I was, uh, just looking over your files and, um...well...your osteoporotic patients aren't on Bisphosphonate; your diabetics aren't on ACE inhibitors. Doug, a lot of your treatments are pretty out of date. Dr. Townshend: Come on, Bob, I'm--guys like us, we're set in our ways. Dr. Kelso: Well, this is not an age thing, Doug. Hell, these days if you've been out of med school five years, half of what you learned is obsolete. Why do you think I spend every other weekend at a seminar in some two-star hotel ballroom that still stinks of last night's prom vomit? I do it because I have to keep up. Dr. Townshend: Also, it gives you two days away from the missus, right? [laughs] Once again, I am sorry I was the one who introduced you in the first place! Dr. Kelso's expressions remains serious. Dr. Townshend: Look, Bob, I just...I don't have the energy for all that stuff. Dr. Kelso: Well...then we got a problem.

Dr. Townshend: What the hell's this all about? Dr. Kelso: Nothing! I was, uh, just looking over your files and, um...well...your osteoporotic patients aren't on Bisphosphonate; your diabetics aren't on ACE inhibitors. Doug, a lot of your treatments are pretty out of date. Dr. Townshend: Come on, Bob, I'm--guys like us, we're set in our ways. Dr. Kelso: Well, this is not an age thing, Doug. Hell, these days if you've been out of med school five years, half of what you learned is obsolete. Why do you think I spend every other weekend at a seminar in some two-star hotel ballroom that still stinks of last night's prom vomit? I do it because I have to keep up. Dr. Townshend: Also, it gives you two days away from the missus, right? [laughs] Once again, I am sorry I was the one who introduced you in the first place! Dr. Kelso's expressions remains serious. Dr. Townshend: Look, Bob, I just...I don't have the energy for all that stuff. Dr. Kelso: Well...then we got a problem.