Quest: “The Tech Affecting Society” Villagers Prensky and Bauerlein have shared some harsh words about you, and how technology has shrunk your capacity to meaningfully engage society. Sept 2 nd, 2014

Bauerlein’s Dumbest Generation The Life of Students Straw Man “Consider a school that constantly emphasizes the importance of performance! results! achievement! success! A student who has absorbed that message may find it difficult to get swept away by the process of creating a poem or trying to build a working telescope. He may be so concerned about the results that he’s not at all engaged in the activity that produced those results.” - Alfie Kohn

The Bauerlein Reality The over-scheduled population does not reflect the common reality The reality is that – Less than 5 hrs/wk are spent on HW – More than 2x that is spent on TV, the Net, and other digital distractions

The Crux of It The intellectual condition of youth is a failing proposal – i.e. the digital distractions are decreasing their intellect More access to information than any generation before No evidence this access has improved their production – (except in the materials of youth culture) So there is no ability to act on the rising premium on knowledge and communication

Discussion What psychology develops from the overly- production and results foci? What does that do to a learner? Is something “insidious” happening? What values is Bauerlein assuming? Do you agree with Bauerlein? Why or why not?

Prensky’s Digital Natives “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.” The singularity—the arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology—has resulted in a generation of Digital Natives that don’t speak the same “language” as the older Digital Immigrants.

The argument Instructors are Immigrants that don’t understand the idioms of the new technology They try to coerce technology to fit old paradigms, where as natives assimilate what is useful Adapting doesn’t require changing what is meaningful, it means – going faster, – less linearly, more in parallel – more interactive

The justification New neuroscience shows brains are plastic much later than previously believed – the business model underlying Lumosity Social Psych shows that “people who grow up in different cultures do not just think about different things, they actually think differently.” Therefore: – The cultural difference is real – And the changes can be adapted to such that continuous learning occurs

The Threat All the multi-tasking and rapid changes in focus reduce time for reflection Reflection is when meaning making happens – And when content becomes knowledge by binding content to experience

Discussion Do you feel like a Digital Native, a Digital Immigrant, or something other? Why? How does Prensky’s argument contrast with Bauerlein’s perspective? Does it help the interpretation? What kind of technology has emerged that changes how we write and share? Do you agree with Prensky? Why or why not?