What do "screenagers"—young people steeped in technology who have many opportunities to learn new information and even create high-quality content on their own—need from teachers now? And what can teachers learn from screenagers' expertise with new digital tools and their take on learning through collaboration?
Teaching Kids to Drive
Now that most older students, particularly, have experience posting on the Web their own ideas, conversations, and creative products connected to learning, one key question is how much guidance they need in this sharing process—and who should give that guidance. According to Will Richardson ("Publishers, Participants, All," p. 22), creating and maintaining a positive online presence is a "literacy for the times." Richardson says teachers have a responsibility to guide students in coordinating their presentation of self-created material on the web, and their interactions with disparate people who share their interests. Teachers, Richardson asserts, need to do much more than administer one media literacy unit or teach kids about online safety:
We must also teach connections, the idea that the "publish" button is an opportunity to learn from those who take the time to read and respond. … We must envision a K-12 curriculum that seamlessly integrates these new skills and literacies in age-appropriate ways and gradually moves students into more public interactions online. Not doing so would be akin to handing teenagers the keys to the car without ever having taught them how to drive. (pp. 23–24)
- Do you agree that helping students interact purposefully online and present themselves as worthy contributors is teachers' responsibility? Or is this something screenagers can figure out on their own?
- What do you make of Richardson's view that the traditional résumé "is becoming a Google search result, one that we build with the help of others"? What are the implications for teachers who need to prepare students to enter the work world?
- Look at two of the popular web sites and blogs created by young people that Richardson refers to, Ryan's Well at www.ryanswell.ca started by Ryan Hreljac, and Tavi Gevinson's The Style Rookie at http://thestylerookie.com and discuss in your group: How much adult guidance would you think each young creator might have had in shaping these? How might each online site be different if it had been created as part of a school assignment? Could you fashion a learning unit or project drawing from the content of blogs like these—such as the statistics on access to clean water and worldwide poverty presented on Ryan Hreljac's website?
- Does the concept of youth culture as something young people create on their own have any bearing on how much guidance teachers should give teenagers as they create identities and follow passions online?
Cell Phones: Should Schools Answer the Call?
In his article "Teaching the iGeneration" (p. 10), Larry Rosen claims that teens now consider technology as essential and unremarkable as air—and that "to the members of the iGeneration, a phone is not a phone. It is a portable computer." Whether cell phones should be embraced in schools is a hot topic. Read Liz Kolb's article "Adventures with Cell Phones" (p. 39), especially her seven arguments as to why cell phones enhance school-based learning.
- Which arguments, if any, seem convincing to you? Which do you disagree with? (You might consider inviting a school administrator to take part in this reading and to discuss this article with your group).
- What is your school's policy on cell phones? Do you agree with it?
- Review the cell-phone-based learning activities Kolb lists on pp. 41–43. Could you try any of these activities with your students, and do you think any of them would enhance learning? Teachers could do some of these activities without cell phones without losing the essential learning elements. For instance, a language instructor could give individual oral quizzes in person, taping learners' answers, as easily as having students record and phone in their answers on a cell. What might be the advantages of using the newer technology?
Online Reading and Complex Thinking
Not every writer in this issue believes that learning through digital technologies leads to more engagement and mastery. Mark Bauerlein ("Too Dumb for Complex Texts?" p. 28) believes the reading approach characteristic of much online reading—skimming, frequent switching between texts or tasks, and an expectation of instant comprehension—is the culprit in many teens' documented inability to understand complex texts. He notes:
Fast skimming is the way of the screen. Blogs, chats, and comments are usually hastily produced and consumed. The more students become habituated to them, the more they will eschew a slow and deliberate pace, or, rather, the more they will read quickly and fail to comprehend. … Even when they realize that they need to slow down, the fast-skimming habit presses forward, for an individual's ways and means of reading are not a matter of choice.
- What do you think of Bauerlein's argument? If you've been teaching for more than 10 years, do you see students becoming less able to complete complex readings? How do your students tend to react when you assign a long, intricate reading that requires deliberation?
- Unlike Richardson, Bauerlein doesn't see students becoming "content creators" as a purely positive development. Young readers who are used to having their own ideas spotlighted may lose the humility to patiently comprehend someone else's ideas. Do you agree?