Week 1 Activity 4: Generations of information seekers

https://learn2.open.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1280125/mod_resource/content/1/UCL_Reading_research.pdf

What follows starts with a quick exercise to focus your thinking about the Google Generation.

• Below are four statements about that generation. Two statements have been described as myths by the authors of the study from which the graph is taken: please try to identify those two statements. And, in your view, how accurate are each of the other statements?

  1. ‘They [the Google Generation] need to feel constantly connected to the web’

  2. ‘They are the “cut-and-paste” generation’

  3. ‘They pick up computer skills by trial and error’

  4. ‘They are expert searchers’

Which of Statements 1–4 above, if any, apply to you?

I think that in some way most of these statements could apply to me, although to varying degrees.  I’m pretty much a daily user of the web through both my work, my study and my home life. I definitely pick up computer skills by trial and error and I would class myself as an ‘ ok but could do better’ searcher … In terms of the cut and paste generation .. that is a tricky one .. I can see in one way it could apply but it does seem an almost ‘dismissive’ turn of phrase – not sure about that. I’m definitely not part of what I see as the ‘google generation’ though age wise ..

Which method in the graph above do you depend on most?

I guess I’m probably right in the middle of the graph age wise and I would pretty much use all of the methods mentioned, it depends on the task really.