Hands down these articles are my favorite to date! Yoffe, Klapperstuck, and Kearns make very good points regarding children today and their perceived "addiction" to technology and the never-ending want for information.
When I was reading these articles, especially Yoffe's, I couldn't help but think about a few friends of mine who have sever cases of addiction. The first one, my friend's wife, is probably the worst. Not only does she update her location on average three times and hour (and no that's not an exaggeration, I just check her Facebook over the last 12 hours to ensure I had it right), she never misses a chance to "like" any and everything her husband posts! I mean ANYTHING! Two weeks ago he posted "My wife is insane." on his status.... "LIKE"D! WHAT!? COME ON! Not only do you "like" a insult aimed directly your way, you two are probably sitting in the same room!!!!! Can't you just tell him you like his post, for whatever God-forsaken reason?
Oh I could go for weeks about similar occurrences, but I'll save you my diatribes... plus I don't want my blood pressure to go up too high.
So why do people feel this need to update the whole world about every single thing they do? Well, it could do with the fact that... people actually read it! And comment! AKA- They do it for the attention they know they'll get...
In Yoffe's article, she discusses how people's brains are designed and structured to be ever seeking information. Whether that information is about how to make a rocket ship, or about what color your friend painted their toenails that day, people always want more information. Of course, this is nothing new, it's just nowadays social media sites, the internet, and smartphones make it extremely easy for people to feed their need to search.
I'm not going to lie, I'm guilty of the "deep Google" every once in a while. Occasionally I look into stuff that is either just obscure, or completely irrelevant. For example, before I started typing this blog, I spend about a half our on movieclips.com (GREAT website by the way) watching clips from movies including Karate Kids, and Liar Liar. Did I need to be doing that? Nope.
So here's my point in all of this: As future teachers, how do we get kids to turn off these distractions and focus on what we're teaching? Klapperstuck and Kearns note that kids today always have more then one thing going on. If they're at the mall with some friends, they're texting other friends. If they're at the movies, they're tweeting about how stale the popcorn is. They're never content with just being where they are! They always want to be doing something else, or talking with someone different.
I think we're gonna have a challenge on our hands for sure. We need to find a way to get kids to voluntarily turn everything distraction off, and engage in what we're talking about. Sure, we can make them turn off everything, but won't they just ignore us to be spiteful? It's going to be a tough job my friends... but hey, at least it will never be dull!
Very thoughtful words, Kyle.
ReplyDeleteWe need to make them go outside. This is a function of greater society. From rural to urban, from actual to digital. Technology is awesome, but you know what is better " liking"than a picture of Yosemite National Park? GOING THERE! And walking around without cell-phone reception. Many of the most amazing places in the world are without wireless access...there must be a reason. For every room that is fully wired in a school, there should be another room with one of those government jammers that blocks all wireless access. What would happen if these multi-tasking phenoms could multi-task on a project that betters the community around them?
ReplyDeleteGreat points! First, nice photo - I seriously wonder if those should really be posted in places, because they way things are going.....
ReplyDeleteI have been guilty of "deep Google" as well (and wrote about it in my post too). I definitely know where my students are coming from - it is so easy to get distracted by all the things the internet has to offer. It's still mind-boggling to me how we can access all that information from our mobile phones, whose original purpose was solely to make phone call!
I think you really got to it with the point about getting them to voluntarily put it away - that is really going to be our challenge!
Agreed with Kristin, very thoughtful words. Kids are not content with just being where they are today, but can you say that you are either? I know that I'm not. I can see it now... I'm up at the front of the room teaching a lesson and I am just itching to check my phone or e-mail! What am I going to do?? Can we really ask our students to change the way they think if I am doing the same thing they are? I know it will be a challenge for both me and my students, but I think we have learned in this course that technology needs to be apart of the classroom and incorporating it should be used as a tool and also fun!
ReplyDeleteYes, Kyle, why do people like to publish every minute detail about their lives? At what point did it become necessary to tell all your friends about how drunk you got last night?
ReplyDeleteIn addition to living in an overstimulated society, I think we are also increasingly self-conscious. More than ever, we are subjected to images of standards of acceptance that we most likely don't meet. Therefore, by exposing ourselves publicly (in every sense of the word) and subsequent reactions makes us feel important, even if I don't have Brad Pitt abs.
Yet. I don't have Brad Pitt abs, YET.