I

t is a potentially embarrassing reality, but a reality nonetheless, that many parents have to acknowledge that they are not as expert as their children in the use of all the wondrous digital technology and gadgets that we now have at out disposal.

The truth of the matter is, however, that young people and school age children are techno-savvy and their parents and their schools need to respond to this.

There are arguments for and against the way in which young people are growing up with technology being such a central component of their lives.

But whether one is positive or negative about the effects of technology on young people, endless bickering one way or the other is neither constructive nor useful. Technology is here with us and we better get used to it and use it well.

The pessimists may say that technology is creating generations of children that are poor readers, with short attention spans and they lack social skills.

The argument goes that techno-savvy children do not read much but just skip through web-pages, only skim reading. Thus, they do not focus for very long and so have short attention spans that bring them to the border of hyperactivity.

Likewise, it is argued that children that are so proactive in their use of computers, mobile phones, etc. lack social skills because they have less direct interaction and physical responses to other people.

It is suggested that they become indifferent to other people as they are so used to having gadgets that they can manipulate for their every wish and whim, which may change in the blink of an eye.

The pessimists have grave concerns and it is entirely valid to consider all of the points that they make. But we may also take a more positive and optimistic look at the effects of technology on children and this approach may bring in to focus more particular ways in which education needs to respond to these "different" technologically proficient characteristics of young people today.

For example, where there are concerns for the social skills that appear to be lacking because of technology, it may also be suggested that young people are becoming more socially aware and active because of the technology.

Social networking facilities like Facebook and MySpace mean that young people can be much more connected and socially active as they maintain and even build new friendships via the technology. The power of social networking was also shown in the election of Barack Obama; his campaign and campaigners actively and successfully used the internet to "spread the word".

These kinds of social networking activities mean that young people today, or as they have been called "Net Geners" - as in the net generation - are good at communication, collaborating and getting and giving feedback.

All of this too can and probably will be happening quickly and so this raises their expectations for similar things to happen throughout their lives including in the school classroom.

The Net Geners can, then, and most probably will value freedom of expression and the ability to explore and find out for themselves. Online search engines like Google mean that people can find out about things with ease and speed and school age children will do this habitually.

Give them the name of a person or place and in less than 30 seconds they may be able to pull up reams of information about that person or place.

The internet directly appeals to young people's natural inquisitiveness. The speed and ease with which they can gather information means that there is no sense of a chore and a bore of trawling through libraries and files to find out about something.

The internet can be informative but simultaneously entertaining and this is a fundamental element of what young people will be looking for too.

Entertainment may not be a word that people are necessarily comfortable with in the context of schools and classrooms but entertainment is very much on the agenda of young people and so ought to be thought of. If Net Geners are entertained by what they can do and access via technology, they become skilled and adept at using it and making it a means to an end.

By being "entertained" or it might be said having their interests sparked and maintained, young people become more effective. In fact, we might say this applies to us all. If we enjoy what we are doing, it is quite likely that we will simultaneously enjoy some success in and from it. If the classroom responds to the way young people think and act today, then it is more likely to be a successful learning environment.

Another reality that the school and classroom needs to respond to is the simple fact that young people are becoming much more visual learners and so too much more capable in handling and responding to visual information.

Again the pessimists would take the stance that children that play video games may become visually impaired and at risk socially and emotionally as they are liable to play violent and socially irresponsible games.

But research is beginning to show that gamers gain ability to process complex visual information at high speeds and through interactive gaming online they learn to collaborate and work in teams.

What does this all mean for the classroom? Well, it has certainly changed the nature of the people that are attending classes and the classroom needs to adapt to accommodate this change.