The David Warlick video illustrates the conditions that are "drawing down" teaching in a digital era. The state of these three issues reflect the challenge of teaching to students who approach information in a far different manner than their educators.
The availability and immediacy of information is completely different for students today then for students even five years ago. As the rate of technological advancement grows exponentially, the idea of data collection and analysis in schools takes on an entirely new role. In high school I remember the assignment in health class of nutritional analysis in various foods. This was a several week project where we had to go to the supermarket, record data involving the calories, fats, and the like. We then had to put together a diet based on the food pyramid and a proper daily values.
This assignment is still given in the high school that I work in for sophomore health class. The teacher told me that this assignment now takes less than a period. The students all googled the nutritional information of the foods, and used a website to create a meal plan based on the information that they had inputted. Even a few years ago the teacher would have had to reserve a computer room for the period so the students could access the Internet. Now my colleague tells me that all but one student immediately jumped on their smart phones and began to work in the classroom.
This instant gratification of information has created an apparently impatient and easily distracted group of students. This resulting distraction can be not actually a distraction at all but rather a form of multitasking. These students process information at a very different rate than the generations that have preceded them. And while I understand that this difference between generations occurs, I still have to wonder if it is a good idea to do your homework while listening to music and updating your facebook status with an IM box open and an incoming text message?
The other point I wanted to touch on refers to the purposes of information that Warlick contrasts between students and adults. In approaching information as a work in progress as opposed to a product to be consumed, students position themselves as active participants in the information process rather than as a receptor of information. Thus students see information as what they make of it rather than what they are meant to accept.
In teaching for an unpredictable future to a generation of tech savvy students in a new era of information, teachers must update their style of communication to resonate with a group already bombarded with stimuli. What seems to be most important in advancing with the times is what has always been the most important aspect of educating students--to find effective ways to connect with students in terms of communicating the information.
Chuck
The availability and immediacy of information is completely different for students today then for students even five years ago. As the rate of technological advancement grows exponentially, the idea of data collection and analysis in schools takes on an entirely new role. In high school I remember the assignment in health class of nutritional analysis in various foods. This was a several week project where we had to go to the supermarket, record data involving the calories, fats, and the like. We then had to put together a diet based on the food pyramid and a proper daily values.
This assignment is still given in the high school that I work in for sophomore health class. The teacher told me that this assignment now takes less than a period. The students all googled the nutritional information of the foods, and used a website to create a meal plan based on the information that they had inputted. Even a few years ago the teacher would have had to reserve a computer room for the period so the students could access the Internet. Now my colleague tells me that all but one student immediately jumped on their smart phones and began to work in the classroom.
This instant gratification of information has created an apparently impatient and easily distracted group of students. This resulting distraction can be not actually a distraction at all but rather a form of multitasking. These students process information at a very different rate than the generations that have preceded them. And while I understand that this difference between generations occurs, I still have to wonder if it is a good idea to do your homework while listening to music and updating your facebook status with an IM box open and an incoming text message?
The other point I wanted to touch on refers to the purposes of information that Warlick contrasts between students and adults. In approaching information as a work in progress as opposed to a product to be consumed, students position themselves as active participants in the information process rather than as a receptor of information. Thus students see information as what they make of it rather than what they are meant to accept.
In teaching for an unpredictable future to a generation of tech savvy students in a new era of information, teachers must update their style of communication to resonate with a group already bombarded with stimuli. What seems to be most important in advancing with the times is what has always been the most important aspect of educating students--to find effective ways to connect with students in terms of communicating the information.
Chuck
Your last paragraph really drives it home for me....about resonating with a group that is already bombarded with stimuli. I have often thought that it's not just kids who are dealing with this. Adults are, as well. I have to be very aware of how much is too much for me....I have learned that my mind/body can only take so much information, and then I start to notice my stress response kick in. I have had to consciously be my own filter. Anyway...yes...finding effective ways to connect and communicate is key.
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