THE NET GENERATION IN JAPAN: A SURVEY OF INTERNET BEHAVIOURS OF STUDENTS AGED 13-21

Evidence from research into the “net generation” has shown it is not certain that there is a homogenous group of young people whose abilities to use technology are different from any other age group. With tools like blogs and online research becoming more popular in educational contexts research needs to provide a picture of what kinds of abilities and preferences students have so that appropriate teaching can be provided. This study examines the Japanese context in three areas: 1) Technology ownership, frequency of use, and perceptions of ability; 2) Frequency and type of use of the Internet; 3) Use and perceptions of institution Websites. Students at two universities and one middle and high school (193 male, 197 female, ages 13 to 21) responded and the analysis seems to confirm other studies’ results. They tend to own a lot of Internet-connected technology, especially mobile devices, are familiar with and frequently use the Internet, and perceive themselves competent to do so. However, their use is mostly for entertainment and not for learning or content creation. In conclusion, young people do not seem to be especially proficient at using technology for learning and may need technical or pedagogical support for sophisticated online educational tasks such as research or blogging.