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the world has sped up but education hasn't...

There is a difference between the people that grew up with technology and those who did not.  Simple.  Mark Prensky names these different groups of people Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants.  In a multimedia world where young people communicate via text, twitter and facebook at the age of three, adjustments must be made.  Again, this idea seems simple to me.  Steve Maher of Chatnam High School says that students walking into a classroom with out technology is “like walking into a desert,” and Jason Levy, a middle-school principal in Brooklyn, NY, compares technology to oxygen, stating that there would never be a question of whether students should have access to oxygen.  That said, why would we ever want to deprive our students of oxygen and make them sit in a desert?  Jason Levy makes another valid argument that there are reasonably NO jobs that require one to sit in a chair and be quiet.  How can we expect students to practice something that there is no practical use for?  True, students are multi-tasking, in essence gulping in air at lightning speed in the information age, but are they choking?

Out of all the discussion back and forth on the subject, the most shocking thing that jumps out at me is the fact that some educators can ignore that the purpose of education for the students of today is different.  Students do not necessarily need to retain loads of information to be able to regurgitate it at any given second, however, they need to be able to go and do.  Students need to be able to problem solve and use the vast millions of resources, i.e. the internet, cell phones, social networks, and access to information in general, to find the answers and solutions to questions.  The purpose of education today is to teach these people how to use the technology in question, to access the knowledge of the past present and future.  The purpose is to prepare students for their future, which will include technology whether you like it or not.

Another argument against the advancement of technology is the observation that students are not able to carryout a complete linear thought process due to the access of instant gratification education, says James Paul Gee of ASU.  Mark Prensky claims that the content of learning should remain but there need to be new ways of teaching; the nouns such as a chalkboard vs. a SmartBoard may change, but the meat is the same.  We may lose some aspects attention span and concentration in the process, but that is the price of gain.

So…

How do we accomplish this?  How do we balance the development of new technology and methods with the content that precedes legacy?  As educators in a world that has sped up while education hasn’t, how can we find effective uses of technology to enhance instruction and student achievements, engaging them in cross-curricular, career and college preparatory activities and projects that provide our students with purpose?

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

Having grown up in the in between space of the Digital Immigrants and the Digital Natives, I have advantages and disadvantages to be able to teach the future generations of students. While I have a pretty adapt knowledge of the Internet, gaming, social networking, software, and can use my cell phone to do just about anything my computer could, I am still light years behind my students. The entire reason that I chose to go through with the EdTech MA at APU was just that. I want to keep up and find ways to engage my students that seem to have the limited attention span that everyone in education is talking about.

I graduated from high school only seven years ago, just about when Marc Prensky was composing his writings Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (DN,DI), parts one and two. Looking back, I had a combination of teachers; some which rose to the tech challenge, and some that did not. I am fortunate that I substitute at my high school and am able to see the progress that has been made. Not much. Not that there are not attempts, the school purchased 9 Promethean SmartBoards with a grant, but they cannot afford to train teachers to use them or afford the upkeep to replace projector bulbs and update software. In the small attempts made to create trainings, no one shows up. Why? Because they cannot afford to take time to learn this new material when they are struggling to stay afloat in the flurry of standardized testing. The new teachers with the energy and passion to teach themselves this information in order teach their Digital Native students more effectively are fighting for their jobs or are unemployed.

Ok with that said, onto the issue of these Digital Natives and how we should teach them. In Part 1 of DN,DI, Prensky states that “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” And quoting Dr. Bruce D. Perry, Prensky says, “Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures.” That statement alone is inarguable to me. The idea that students learn differently now and education will continue to evolve is as black and white as the idea that technology has advanced over the last 200 years. We function different than we used to and therefore need to learn to function differently. “Digital Immigrants don’t believe their students can learn successfully learn while watching TV or listening to music, because they (the Immigrants) can’t.” Why should education be the only industry in the world exempt from technological advances, just because those working now did not “grow up” with technology? When in fact, they DID grow up with technology; it was just different than video games, texting, the Internet and recordable television. We need to cater to the capabilities of our students, not ourselves. The invention of the pencil or the slide-rule, were technologies of their times, and schools adapted to using them. We type assignments now thanks to the introduction of the typewriter way back when, because of its efficiency and ease. However, learning how to type was a process that took time, effort and the drive to advance, for both the students and the teachers. Part 2 of DN, DI states,

“Digital Native accustomed to the twitch-speed, multi-tasking, random-access, graphics-first, active, connected, fun, fantasy, quick-payoff world of their video games, MTV, and the Internet are bored by most of today’s education, well meaning as it may be. But worse, the many skills that new technologies have actually enhanced (e.g., parallel processing, graphics awareness, and random access)—which have profound implications for their learning—are almost totally ignored by educators.”

I guess what I do not understand about the technology struggle today, is WHY NOT? Why wouldn’t we want to create an environment that has proven to increase comprehension, skill level and educational capability? Technology is ever evolving and is going to continue to change and advance, with generations after generations that will be the new Natives to the new technologies. With learners so different today, and so different tomorrow, the balance of the “legacy” content (writing, reading, arithmetic, logical thinking, understanding the writings and ideas of the past, etc—all of the traditional curriculum) and the “future” content (digital and technological—software, hardware, robotics, nanotechnology, genomics, ethics, politics, sociology, languages) is the crucial element to make education current, productive and successful. If we need to use video games to make that happen, so be it, and teachers should be eager to oblige if it gets across the important stuff.

the parents

The parents of our little lovelies play a huge role in just how lovely they really are.  In a classroom where some parents do not even know what classes their son or daughter is enrolled in to the poor students whose parents walk them to each of theses classes, it is difficult to determine what to expect from parents.  My students with the "it's just art" attitude usually do not have the parental support for succeeding in all classes including art.  I have actually participated in the behavioral problem phone-call home and received this in an earful.  Given that art is an elective, do the students accountability to be respectful and teachable go out the window?  I think not.  This parent did not understand by little Billy couldn't just draw all period and get an A.  It's a CLASS!! And, a college prep one at that!  He, just like the rest of the class needs to participate in all parts of the academia, not just what they deem necessary.  On the brighter side, parents can be an amazing resource for the students and for the teachers.  Making sure that their child is prepared everyday is a start, and makes a huge difference, especially in the art classroom, where unfortunately students must provide some of their own materials.  Parents that ensure these materials are available on time, usually are the ones that encourage their students to take every class seriously and for all its worth!   There is so much more to say about parents, both positive and negative... I will try to touch on their effect on the kids as much as possible.

the dreaded phone call home..

First, I want to apologize to my readers.  I feel like I mostly am ranting in this blog.  I really am very happy as a teacher, but am responding to prompts sometimes from my school.  They all seem to have a negative connotation though :(  Again this week is about Rick.  I have decided that we are now playing a game.  Who can frustrate the other more, he or I?  I am really, very upset by this fact, given that I still see a little bit of myslef in him.  He's back in class, attitude and all.  Finally at my wits end, Mom and Dad were called.  After hours of phone tag, I finally reached Mom...to be cont...

1/2 failing...

No one in my class is actually failing, but I really feel that they could be succeeding more.  I just don't think that they "get it."  This is by no fault of theirs, I am just still learning how to convey the lesson with meaningful instruction, useful demonstrations and practical application.  It's not everyone, but enough to make me worry and second-guess myself.  I guess I do not have an actual solution to this problem, but rather an action plan.  I will continue to search for ways to engage my little lovelies, hopefully inspiring them to allow information to penetrate their brains.  I thought I was stepping out of the box, but I guess I need to leap out of it!

what if?

Rick has just stopped coming to school.  I really do think that he hates me. :(  What else can I do? I told him that I would like to "start over."  He didn't care.  He proceeded to ask the other art teacher if she had space in her sculpture class next semester right in front of me.  My heart sank.  Am I really that bad?  Have I really made his semester so miserable that he feels he needs to switch out?  I am still trying to find out exactly what it is that I did to make him feel this way.  The only conclusion that I can come up with is that he was expecting an easy class that he has taken twice before, and I switched it up on him... which is hardly reason for the kind of disgust and disrespect that he displays daily.  Still, it makes me sad that I have failed him at all.  The idea of loosing even one student feels like fell short of my obligation as an educator.  I am supposed to be the one to engage him no matter what, that little thing called "differentiation of instruction."  My other students see his public displays of frustration and they know that he is the one out of line, but I still cannot let it go.  I have failed...I am the worst teacher ever :(