Adults and teens use Facebook. A 6-year-old or 3-yr-old?

We should be asking - how can emerging digital technology help children learn, share, or connect? How can children use digital technology to create their own information or sets of knowledge?

Those born in 2005 (this means my son) or later are digital natives. They're born with Web 2.0. I believe it's our duty as parents, teachers, librarians, and others to foster and practice global digital literacy in safe, legal, and appropriate ways.

I see Web 2.0 as a perfect opportunity to encourage children to use digital technology to create, dream, and follow a passion using their active minds. It's a way to engage kids (gifted, learning disabilities, attention issues, visual learners, divergent or creative learners, etc.)

As a librarian, yes, I can say book readership is down. Book readership has been declining for some time. No denying it. ALA (American Library Association) has figures if you like. Most public libraries track (not individuals) the figures on book readership too. Enter a public library. Are people in the stacks or are they on public computers or checking out the video or music selection?

Newspapers are bleeding. No denying it. There's a bunch of studies online. I think there's a belief that heavy users of the NY Times and Boston Globe, for instance, will still be willing to pony up the money. However, I think it's going to be an increasing issue because reading newspapers (as a medium for information) is also generational and not surprisingly relates to the level of education.

Pew did a study about the challenges newspaper face
- http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1133/decline-print-newspapers-increased-online-news

USA Today was the first newspaper to make heavy use of color, graphics, and images in 1982. At the time, it was a bit pooh-poohed in the industry as being rather breezy and less erudite with news. USA Today also relied more on AP stories than employing journalists to actually write articles. Since then, can you find a newspaper today that doesn't include color or rely more on AP wire stories?

We've become a more visual society. It started with color lithography, photos, and film, but it's escalated with television, computer games (ie. Pong vs. Nintendo) and the Internet. That's the reality. That doesn't mean newspapers or books will go the way of the dodo. But I do think that things will change whether we like them or not.

Television changed a generation. Joan Cooney Ganz founded the Children's Television Workshop and started Sesame Street to help children learn. Sesame Street helped children learn to read, write, and do math. Joan Cooney Ganz viewed television as having a powerful impact on a child's life and a source for positive societal change and action.

Joan Cooney Ganz saw how kids were mesmerized by television, like addicts. She had a powerful idea - if you capture a child's attention, you can educate them.

Internet is no different - except we've got a new generation here!