I get this questions quite a bit. Whenever I tell people I am a tecaher, they immediately puff out their bottom lip, and adopt the half-lidded sympathy eyes and quickly express “I don’t know how you do it.” They quickly follow up their display with the words, “What is wrong with kids today?”
My answer is simple; Nothing. There is nothing wrong with kids today. They are fine….in fact, they would be great if we didn’t stand in their way. As a society, we put every possible hindrance into their path to keep them from accomplishing their goals. Further, we try to reprogram them to make their goals more like ours.
It’s really quite funny. Look at the current situation in our economy. Kids today didn’t create these problems. We did. The adults. Those of US who seem to think we know better than THEY do. Now, THEY are going to have to clean up OUR problems. Think that’s overstating it? I don’t.
Yesterday, I spent the day at a conference where the focus was how to make technology useful in the classroom. We showed teachers wikis, blogs, podcasts and other assorted activities that would change the way tecahers tecah and students learn. The general consensus at the end of the session was that none of these thigns were useful. Seriously! 10,000 podcasts published every day…..100,000 YouTube videos….and teachers can’t think of a single use for them?
Now, I admit, there are some aspects of technology that are still too rough. Why people continue to post pictures of themselves drinking, partying, and half-clothed on MySpeace is beyond me. I mean, you do realize that the first thing admissions and employers do when they hear about you is Google you, right? That means, if your MySpace page pops up, that will be the impression they get of you. Is that the image you really want to project? Oh well, I digress. The point is that schools everywhere are blocking students from accessing these tools rather than teaching students how to use them responsibly and effectively all because of fear of what the student might do. It’s sort of like not teaching a child to swim because they could drown in the water. Well, what the heck happens if that child ends up in the water anyway?
It simply seems to me that a school should strive to prepare its students for what they will be doing in the future, not preventing them from using those tools? Am I alone in this? Have I finally lost my mind (in as much as I ever had one to lose)? I guess I am going to put those questions to you and see what you think. What should teachers be doing with technology today and how much access should students have?
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October 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Oh lord. Mr. Fuson has a blog? I don’t know whether to be alarmed, inspired, or both.
I must warn you, my expectations are high.
But on to serious business.
Re: adults standing in the way of kids–I just finished reading a book for Sociology called “Teenage Wasteland” by Donna Gaines. She comments a lot on the fact that there’s nothing wrong with kids, that adults just pathologize their behavior in order to find ways to deal with it. It probably said other stuff, too, but my head is so full of Marx I can’t retain much of anything. It was pretty enlightening.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Hi Kelly,
Don’t let those expectations get too high. it’s early in the process. By I appreciate my singular viewership greatly.
Marx?! I suppose this is my fault too, somehow?