After initially reading Lisa Thumann’s blog – What is Relevant?, I stumbled across a link to which led me to a Front Line episode: Digital_Nation – Life on the Virtual Frontier aired February 2nd, 2010. This hour and a half documentary addressed the current state of children growing up online and the roles that societies play shaping today’s online participants and more relevant to my focus, how technology and society are affecting high school students. Douglas Rushkoff (author of Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back, media critic and correspondent) investigates the state of current, curricular demands and how schools around the world are looking at increasing the availability of the Internet into the classroom in hopes of creating education practices that parallel student realities.
In his video, Rushkoff paints a two sided view of what research is saying about our youth and the use of technology. After watching the video I sat back and tried to organize the facts into positive perspectives which I felt lacked during the time of viewing. I realize that there are extremes with anything in life but I was hoping to get a view that focussed on the positives more than the negatives but perhaps we have to hear about the cons to make the good stuff work for us.
I believe it is essential that we continue to monitor the use of technology and the impact that it is having on the minds of our next generation. One key issue is that we have not been down this road before with technology and with the speed at which paradigms are changing today, it can present many challenges for educators in the 21st century. I will attempt to provide some key findings that are relevant to my area of teaching that I found scattered throughout the video.
Uploaded on May 23, 2008
by Wesley Fryer
Digital_Nation – Life on the Virtual Frontier
- kids are “distracted” by technology and multitasking is hindering progress. Multitaskers are slower at switching between different tasks than they are at continuing one task thoroughly. These distractions constantly disorganize the way their brains formulate knowledge and as a result we are unable to think well and clearly. Not a desired result if we are driving on the same roads as these kids.
- Is Google making us smarter? Kids are spending on average, more than 50 hours a week online and are using different parts of their brains than they have in the past when reading books. The prefrontal lobes of the brain comes into play here because multitasking requires constant decision making which exercises this part of the brain. This is interesting to note because according to the following article, the prefrontal lobes in teenagers are not functioning yet in a way that allows them to consider the long term effects of their decisions.
- It is apparent that paradigms are shifting. The addiction of the Internet and gaming systems has created a public health crisis in S.Korea; one of first countries to address the fallout of the digital revolution. The inability to communicate and the time spent immersed in these worlds has caused the Korean Government to create free Internet rescue camps in which children are taught to play as kids again without the influence of technology.
- In South Korean schools, hallways have signs preaching healthy Internet habits and songs are sung which highlight online etiquette. It was suggested in the video that this top down approach of conditioning of kids wouldn’t necessarily work well in North America. I am guessing it is because we have a more open, liberal society that involves a less authoritarian view on our residents.
Teaching with Technology
- There is strong belief by some Principals that laptops are like oxygen for student and they question why we would deprive students of oxygen.
- A Principal from the Bronx found by providing a laptop for every student in his school, it has lowered bullying within the school, it has increased attendance and it has increased grade scores considerably; however, he does feel that proper online etiquette must be taught. Conversely, some believe that online use is decreasing attention span and is providing an instant gratification type of education in which students can’t persue one linear thought to completion and the need for delayed gratification is becoming a skill of the past because students can find instant gratification whenever they want it via the Internet.
The underlying view is that education has not kept up with the realities of the world and as such we are misrepresenting our students for jobs that don’t even exist yet but will be implemented by the time they leave high school. With such conflicting views, it strengthens the belief that a teacher’s role is pivotal in ensuring that our students study how to learn and how to think for themselves; in addition, teaching students how to use technology efficiently as a tool for kids to represent their voices and vocational strengths. The detriment to technology though is that students are learning how to use it instead of learning how to create it and with this it creates what Rushkoff calls the “dumbest generation”.
The Dumbest Generation
- Only 5% of students entering colleges are considered to be effective writers. MIT research found that constant disruption (multitasking) has a profound effect on writing capacities of our students. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between paragraphs within written essays and little or no focus of thought.
Most kids today write in lolspeak and ephemeral dialects which has caused a shift from an underused skill such as writing essays to a more direct form of speech as seen in facebook, twitter or text messages. The overuse of such types of writing has perhaps decreased the art of thought provoking, article entries by our students. Perhaps with the infusion of student blogs we can refocus the need and importance of creating more thought provoking ways of writing.
Uploaded on November 15, 2009 by alancleaver_2000
Where Are We Headed?
It is hard to dismiss the social capacity of the Internet and the impact that gaming systems have on our society. Countless millions of people are using Playstations, XBOX’s and social spaces such as SecondLife, facebook and myspace to reach out to others as a way of socializing in an online environment. In fact, video games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty are bringing people together from all ages and walks of life and have led some individuals to finding life partners via these gaming challenges.
Skills that are learned while playing video games are constantly being scrutinized. Excessive gaming may be linked to obesity, may be lowering academic ability, may cause sleep and memory problems and violent games have been suggested to increase violent behaviour. On the other hand, gaming provides kids with self esteem, social interaction, improves hand eye coordination, increases the ability to problem solve and can be used as a means of exercise as seen with some of the new Wii games on the market today. Perhaps mixing education and exercise into video games can pave the way to a more productive and healthier generation.
The fact is that video games are fun and that kids learn from playing engaging games. It allows kids to succeed at what they do and some schools have recognized the excitment of gaming and have assimilated curriculum with video games in which all objectives in all disciplines are met through playing games. I am an advocate for playing online and video games but I strongly believe that everything in moderation is key. The need to be “tapped into the matrix” is an addiction that has to be carefully monitored and reflected upon to ensure that common practices are in place to prevent the overuse and abuse of video games.
The US Army has increased interest in video games and artificial intelligence practices as they can be used to train soldiers in real life simulations and can act as remedial purposes to help soldiers recover from traumatic experiences encountered during aggressive battles overseas. There are gaming centers in the States that cater to kids playing “combative” video games in hopes of refining military skills and to open channel ways for recruitment when kids become of age to join the army. Of course this is met with much discourse by concerned parents but with added pressures of countries around the world to advance military skills the need to stay competitive is crucial to ensure terrorism is kept at bay in today’s volatile world.
“It’s vital that we identify best practices and productive relationships with new media tools and processes and that we model these through the classroom. This is not about introducing computers for tech’s sake or doing so because we don’t think we can hold their attention otherwise. It is about recognizing that a significant body of research is finding ways that learning is enhanced as young people deal with the resources and opportunities represented by digital media”. Quote by Henry Jenkins
I encourage everyone to watch the video and to read through the various profound reflections about the video. It has widened my realm of understanding about how technology is being used today but yet I feel apprehensive and confused as how to proceed with incorporating technology in my teaching practices.
