[LM_NET] GEN: Pay Attention??? (second attempt)

[Dorothy Scanlan <dgscanlan02@YAHOO.COM>]

This was a brief thread a couple of weeks ago; the response is delayed because I 
needed some time to think about what I wanted to say and also because the library 
has been VERY busy (a good thing!).
   
  I watched this video with great interest hoping that there would be some truly 
innovative suggestions for using technology in the classroom.  To say that I was 
greatly troubled by its message is an understatement.  Was this video funded by 
Apple or Microsoft?  The quote about “richness”, after all, was from Bill Gates.   
I think these so called “digital learners” (who decided that?) are better 
classified as “digital players”.  So our coming college graduates will have spent 
10,000 hours playing video games, another 10,000 on their cell phones, and 20,000 
hours watching t.v.?  That’s not even including the time spent on computers.  To 
that I say:  so what?  Is this a good thing?  That’s 40,000 hours (really more) of 
their young lives that they are spending NOT interacting with other people 
face-to-face or taking a walk in the woods, or playing an impromptu game of 
basketball with their friends.  I think that’s TRAGIC.  And we want to ADD to those 
hours by bringing the
 technology they play with into the classroom?  And that’s the thing we need to 
realize:  because kids have been given the freedom without the responsibility, 
computers, Ipods, cell phones are playthings first, tools second.  When we come to 
the end of our lives, will any of us look back and say, “Gee, I wish I’d watched 
more t.v. or talked more on the phone.”
   
  When I design a lesson, the question in the forefront of my mind is:  what is the 
student learning?  The suggestion provided in the video of using text messages to 
find what someone had for breakfast, what the weather was like, and what was the 
last thing he/she purchased is a perfect example.  Excuse me, but this is 
learning??  Even barring the question of who’s paying for all this text messaging, 
can anyone really call this knowledge?  Statistics are still meaningless when the 
information is meaningless.  And, whatever technology we add to our classes, 
something else has to go.  
   
  “There are 2.7 billion searches per month.  To whom were these questions 
addressed B.G.?”  This claim implies that the students are searching for meaningful 
knowledge on their own.  But let’s face it: students aren’t looking up the reasons 
for the latest crisis in Darfur , they’re looking up cheat codes for video games!  
   
  “If you can’t reach your students by speaking directly to them, teach via 
podcast.”  Without getting into the insulting inference of that statement, sure, 
teachers could make podcasts of their lectures…but if that happens, where will be 
the incentive for students to come to class?  Furthermore, this only engages audial 
learners.
   
  When did this change in our culture occur, that whatever kids are “into” we need 
to bring into our classroom?  As an educator, my philosophy is that I should expose 
them to new ideas  - ideas they are not getting outside of academia.  
   
  And when did things change that now the burden is 100% on us to “reach” and 
“engage” students?  What about the students’ role in this?  Isn’t learning to 
connect with adults their responsibility?  It’s called growing up!  
   
  “Engage them don’t enrage them.”  Has our culture become so child-centric that we 
are afraid of boring them – afraid of showing that it’s cool to be an adult and 
that sometimes life isn’t exciting (and that’s what makes the exciting times so 
much sweeter!)  If education is going to become a dog and pony show, where we feel 
like we have to be stand-up comics to attract their attention, if shallow, 
pop-culture trivia is the way of our future, then I’m not sure I want to be a part 
of that.
   
  So, no, I will not bring Ipods or cell phones or most of the other suggestions 
into my teaching arena!  Technology has a place, but that place is limited.  
Despite the fact that technology has improved certain aspects of our lives, I feel 
like, in a way, it has taken the soul out of Life.  There’s a new commercial from 
Dow about the addition of the “human element”.  Well, that’s what is missing from 
most of these technologies.  They have allowed us to live in an unreal world, 
without actually having to look another person in the face.  And we are not our 
true selves in that world.
   
  Dorothy Scanlan
  Librarian
  St. Paul's School for Boys
  Brooklandville, MD
   

       
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