Super Summary Pg 111-162

“Students don’t seek, find and manage information very well.” Pg 113. What a true statement to really get the section underway. The argument here is that students today are very comfortable with technology, they just don’t know how to apply it in meaningful ways.

In 2006, ETS performed a test to measure Information and Communications Technology (ICT) amongst our students. They discovered that the students flat out can’t perform in this area. This may be related to another study done by EDUCAUSE which showed that students who are considered tech savvy don’t necessarily want or need it in the classroom, while the other students who are not necessarily considered “tech savvy” only learned how to use the technology because it was used in the classroom, and then they only used it for the purposes in the classroom for which it was required.

Schools are understanding the importance of technology, and are trying to make technology in the classroom a reality, however often it happens at the expense of other programs. The focus tends to shift on using technology, not so much integrating it. One school provided a slogan, It doesn’t matter what you know, it matters what you show” in terms of technology use. That startled me a bit.

Students seem to be in favor of technology in schools, but test results are not necessarily indicating any academic gains. “Technology might brighten a student’s outlook not only for the obvious reason…but also because it saves them the effort of acquiring knowledge and developing skills” pg 119. If we are allowing student sot become lazy because we want them to use technology, then something is terribly wrong. Several schools have shown little to no achievement gains since going digital.

In 2004 a test by two economists at the University of Munich analyzed the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and discovered, that all other factors held constant, the availability of a computer at home shows a strong negative correlation to Math and Reading performances. As a result of the lack of academic improvements, several of the one-to-one schools began phasing out their technology.

Students who have grown up with technology (digital natives) have an easier go of using technology than do older generations. Just like a child who is brought up in a home that speaks Spanish will learn faster and find easier the school work written and done in Spanish than the child raised in an all English speaking home in a Spanish school, so does the child raised in a digital environment learn technology more easily than the adult who was not.

Also of interest in this chapter was a discussion on rare word usage. Kids who are exposed to rare words learn faster and with less difficulty than those who are not subjected daily to rare words, especially at the younger ages. In a study of rare word use, it was surprising to find that cartoon scored highest vocabulary of the television speech, however, they still lag in comparison to the printed word. Kids who are not exposed to rare words in written text lag behind those who are exposed which puts an emphasis on the need for more reading at a younger age and less television.

Game creators argue that complex video games teach higher order thinking skills as the games promote strategic thinking, problem solving, the requirement to analyze a situation and adapt quickly to changes. However, the US employers continue to complain about the un-preparedness of these skills in new workers.

As the chapter continues, Bauerlein discusses the ways in which teens and adults read Web Pages, along with studies of eye movement etc. He concludes that students need, not more computer literacy, but more patience and basic literacy. (As reported by Nielson’s study)

Technology today has provided almost too many choices. With limited choices, kids are almost forced to broaden their horizons by opting for something that might not be a great interest to them, but is more interesting that the alternatives. Now, we have access to exactly what we want whenever we want it. Students are no longer forced to choose something different – or learn about something new in their leisure time. When they are forced to do so, it is only in the classroom where the find it boring and mundane.

In close, Bauerlein says, “It’s not the under 30 year olds who have changed. What has changed is the threshold into adulthood, the rituals minors undergo to become responsible citizens, the knowledge and skill activities that bring maturity and understanding.” He continues on pages 160-161, “The popular digital practices of teens and 20 year olds don’t open the world. They close the doors to maturity, eroding habits of the classroom, pulling hours away from leisure practices that complement classroom habits.”