Tom Rolfes, and IT manager for the State of Nebraska writes a fascinating e-mail about the real IT experience his son and his high-school age peers gain with online gaming (in response to my recent column🙂
I work as an I.T. manager for the State and was formerly a jr/sr high science and technology teacher for many years. There is no greater motivation than the 'desire to know' or authentic learning among young people. 'Desire to know' includes wanting to join one of the fastest growing online communities of interactive, online gaming. They seek out the knowledge to enable and disable ports, have learned the difference between 802.11b and 802.11g (time for you to upgrade your home network, by the way), and can fearlessly and readily go in and configure wireless and wired routers with little or no instruction.
My original column focused on online gaming as an interesting set of technologies to watch, but perhaps a more interesting aspect is how a phenomenon like online gaming is creating a whole new generation of IP-savvy kids with real-world experience. I'm looking forward to hiring some very seasoned network admins in a few years. [Chad Dickerson]