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“Technology breeds self-absorbed kids” –
an editorial
I
was often amazed when reporting this story at the opportunities that
technology affords kids when it comes to learning and education. Classes that
once were taught by a teacher standing in front of a
blackboard are now multimedia experiences, complete with music and video.
Kids can pursue their interests and curiosities so much more easily on the
Internet; kids who learn better with visual cues can do so now; information is
so much more accessible. By and large, that is a
really positive thing. However,
there are things to be concerned about. One of the
teachers we interviewed described it this way: Kids' knowledge is
broader but also much shallower than it used to be. Kids seem to know a little bit about a lot, but they're
so impatient, so used to moving quickly, that they cannot handle the deep,
probing, complex thinking that is the key to true mastery. That's
troubling. |
If
you listen to the Department of Education, they'll
say that seven of the top 10 jobs in the year 2010 didn't exist in 2004. So we're preparing our
kids for industries that don't exist yet, and we're preparing for kids to use
technologies that haven't been invented yet. That's
one of the reasons I talk about the difference between learning content and
learning skills, and why there is much more of a need to teach skills,
because if we can teach a student how to learn, then they can adapt to these
things as they're changing. If we're going to teach
them just content that is static, they're not going to have the flexibility
that we're going to need. And if you talk about the
global marketplace, we're in deep trouble if we don't know how to do that. Frontline – Growing
Up Online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/etc/notebook.html
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There's a fine
line between pride and narcissism, and American children are crossing it. In
our time, indulgent parents of the last two generations seem increasingly to
spoil their children. My visits with professors all around the country have
revealed that many of them saw increased laziness among college students
beginning about a decade ago, and the problem seems to be getting worse. More
and more of them were mentally lazy and had unwarranted estimations of their academic
prowess. “How can you not give me an A?” was a familiar rant, ending
typically in statements such as “I was an A student in high school.” Well,
grade inflation has been rampant in many secondary schools for at least two
decades and has now spread into college, primarily in response to student
demands. This problem is not going away and I predict it will get worse. Now
to exacerbate the problem comes along digital technologies that I call
self-absorption technologies because they seduce young people to dwell on
themselves. Such technologies include cell phones and
instant messaging and Web-based social media such as My-Space, Facebook and Twitter. These technologies encourage kids to indulge all their trivial
thoughts and feelings. Kids can easily come to think that the whole world
needs to notice them and have access to them on a 24/7 basis. “Technology breeds self-absorbed kids” – Editorial – Houston Chronicle - Nov. 21, 2009 -
William Klemm, “professor of neuroscience at Texas
A&M University and currently active with middle schools and science
curricula.” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6733329.html |
For information or problems with this link, please email using the email address below.
History – Dr. Bibus |
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281.239.1577 or cjb_classes@yahoo.com |
Last Updated: |
2011 |
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