However, the landscape is not completely bleak. Digital students think it’s cool to be smart. They are ambitious and success oriented. One study of high school students in San Diego found that over half of those students believed they would work in businesses they created themselves.
When they think about the kinds of jobs they want, they expect those jobs to allow responsibility, independence, creativity and collaboration among idealistic and committed coworkers.
They want to learn using technology. They have a very different idea about how to access information and use information tools. Access to current information on the web makes them question traditional, often outdated, sources of information. In studying about war, they understand the value of checking news sources from around the world to gain a global perspective. They can also get up-to-the-minute updates on current events, such as elections.
By providing digital students with opportunities to learn in ways that satisfy their needs, they will be more engaged in the learning process and in realising their potential.
What we know about this digital generation and the disconnect between how they learn and what they think about school requires that we think about student achievement in different and broader terms.
![Two kids working happily on an iBook [photo]](http://images.apple.com/education/digitalkids/disconnect/images/image_positive.jpg)
