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Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The Dumbest Generation book reflection by Mary Day
Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation filled me with mixed emotions when I read this book. Are today’s young American’s truly the dumbest generation? I think it depends on who you ask.
I don’t believe that the future of today’s digital natives is as dismal as the author tries to make this generation appear. Although he brings up valid arguments and backs them up with convincing evidence in the form of research and analysis of test scores when he discusses how test scores are decreasing in history, civics and foreign affairs, one has to ask, “Who really is to blame for this?” It is theirs, or do other’s share the blame such as parents who often times have no clue to what they are doing, or what information they are looking at, or where they are and who they are with.
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, the author doesn’t make these comments and generalizations lightly without a vast amount of factual data to support his arguments. But I wondered to myself how much different is this digital native era from previous eras concerning what they cared about, or their lack of civic responsibility? There will always be people who care about the world and what happens in it, and some adults today are as apathetic about current events as the youth Bauerlein talks about in his book. So the fact that he generalizes all youth today in this category bothered me. I felt the author was too pessimistic, because I do believe there are sufficient youth out there that do care about the past, the present, and the future of our country.
I came upon a book review article from the Los Angeles Times that called this book a “dooms day scenario,” and I tend to agree. We as educators must continue to stimulate and challenge our students to continue to use technology in a positive way to help them become more well-rounded and worldly, and we will succeed if we perform our jobs correctly. We can show them the way, whether or not they accept the challenge and “take off” is up to them. Just like in previous history, some will, and others will not. I do not think democracy as we know it is threatened by our youth’s lack of interest. I have faith that they will be productive and responsible citizens as their predecessors were in the past.
I don’t believe that the future of today’s digital natives is as dismal as the author tries to make this generation appear. Although he brings up valid arguments and backs them up with convincing evidence in the form of research and analysis of test scores when he discusses how test scores are decreasing in history, civics and foreign affairs, one has to ask, “Who really is to blame for this?” It is theirs, or do other’s share the blame such as parents who often times have no clue to what they are doing, or what information they are looking at, or where they are and who they are with.
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, the author doesn’t make these comments and generalizations lightly without a vast amount of factual data to support his arguments. But I wondered to myself how much different is this digital native era from previous eras concerning what they cared about, or their lack of civic responsibility? There will always be people who care about the world and what happens in it, and some adults today are as apathetic about current events as the youth Bauerlein talks about in his book. So the fact that he generalizes all youth today in this category bothered me. I felt the author was too pessimistic, because I do believe there are sufficient youth out there that do care about the past, the present, and the future of our country.
I came upon a book review article from the Los Angeles Times that called this book a “dooms day scenario,” and I tend to agree. We as educators must continue to stimulate and challenge our students to continue to use technology in a positive way to help them become more well-rounded and worldly, and we will succeed if we perform our jobs correctly. We can show them the way, whether or not they accept the challenge and “take off” is up to them. Just like in previous history, some will, and others will not. I do not think democracy as we know it is threatened by our youth’s lack of interest. I have faith that they will be productive and responsible citizens as their predecessors were in the past.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Dumbest Generation Animoto created by Mary Larscheid
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Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Dumbest Generation Book Reflection
The Dumbest Generation discusses the downfall of a fast-paced, digital age. The continuous point that the book describes we have advanced technologically; however, educationally it is the inverse. Students no longer know history, nor do they have a desire to learn the classics. They simply do not care, rather instead they would like to Facebook or text. Adults are not becoming adults until later in life, many twenty-some year olds are back living with their parents and not taking active responsibility for his or her life. Simply banking off of his/her parents is the common twenty-year olds life.
Fast-paced is the way the youth and young adults expect everything to work. Very few people are taking the time to read books; rather they just simply “Google it.” Another concern that the Bauerlein brings to point is the increasing amount of the population that is narcissistic. As the book points out, two-thirds of US under graduates are scoring above average on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. With more people scoring higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, he points to lower levels of pro-civic and pro-social values. The youth simply lacks a clear direction and desire to help others.
After reading the book, I agree with some points that the author makes; however, I feel that the book goes to extreme levels to leave a negative mark on the youth. Stating that the youth is fairly narcissistic, is a truly accurate statement. Working within the classroom has allowed me to see that, as a teacher, many of my students do have an attitude of carelessness. From my perspective, I feel this change has occurred because a lot of youth lack clear supervision and leadership from home. Schools can try to teach; however, students are most impacted by their own family members. Parents need to set high expectations, as not to deviate to a level where they feel they need to be friends with their kids; rather instead do what is best for his or her child’s future. Every child deserves the right to value education and actively seek out knowledge from the past and present to make him or her better citizens. As parents, teachers, schools, and community members we all need to work together to teach children to value all education, not just technology education in order to be a complete educated being.
Fast-paced is the way the youth and young adults expect everything to work. Very few people are taking the time to read books; rather they just simply “Google it.” Another concern that the Bauerlein brings to point is the increasing amount of the population that is narcissistic. As the book points out, two-thirds of US under graduates are scoring above average on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. With more people scoring higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, he points to lower levels of pro-civic and pro-social values. The youth simply lacks a clear direction and desire to help others.
After reading the book, I agree with some points that the author makes; however, I feel that the book goes to extreme levels to leave a negative mark on the youth. Stating that the youth is fairly narcissistic, is a truly accurate statement. Working within the classroom has allowed me to see that, as a teacher, many of my students do have an attitude of carelessness. From my perspective, I feel this change has occurred because a lot of youth lack clear supervision and leadership from home. Schools can try to teach; however, students are most impacted by their own family members. Parents need to set high expectations, as not to deviate to a level where they feel they need to be friends with their kids; rather instead do what is best for his or her child’s future. Every child deserves the right to value education and actively seek out knowledge from the past and present to make him or her better citizens. As parents, teachers, schools, and community members we all need to work together to teach children to value all education, not just technology education in order to be a complete educated being.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Reflection - Bart Torbert
Reflection – “The Dumbest Generation”
As a skeptic of technology as a better way to educate, I found myself nodding in agreement with much of this book. Do I think things are as bad as the author Mark Baurlein thinks? Probably not.
I am worried, not about the vast number of hours spent on the internet, but the things that aren’t being done while we mindlessly check our Facebook for the 30th time of the day (or 300th?) The social universe that we spend so much time on, has reached such a level of importance that the good things that can be done on the internet (research, drill and practice) are not done well, if at all.
I think Mr. Bauerlein has done effectively what he claims our current group of scholars are not doing; making strong decisions about facts that he has carefully researched. The book is full of references to research (maybe too full?) and the superlatives he uses in his conclusions are troubling to those who believe him word for word.
My daughter has a blog that is actually read by a relatively large group of friends. I find it informative, and fun, but wonder why it is on the internet for YOU to read. Our pages and pages of self-authored information about ourselves, proves Mr.Bauerlein’s point that we are narcissistic and should probably be reading more worthwhile authors.
One of the advantages of being old is that I’ve seen stupid things come and go. Popped collars, Bermuda shorts, the XFL football league, Michael Jordan playing baseball come to mind. I feel that I will outlive the digital age. I think teachers with a pulse and face-to-face conversation will be valued and we will use our computers for what they do best.
I hope.
Chapter 4 - Dumbest Generation
It’s a bit ironic that I’d be reporting that online learning is failing our students in an online class. Chapter Four of “The Dumbest Generation” cites a number of sources that point to this generalization.
Included are students’ inability to identify trustworthy sources on the internet (www.ets.org/ictliteracy.org), laziness of search effort, (less than 1% of Google searches ever extend to the second page), and the inability to sort information into meaningful folders.( www.InsideHigher Ed.com)
Since 1996, when President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act which includes subsidies for technology in schools, we have thrown an increasing amount of money at hardware needs, sometimes at the expense of science equipment, field trips, and music programs. Having students involved in technology programs has not resulted in increased performance in most cases, though the students themselves seem to enjoy the process more.
The acquisition of language, which is tied to classroom success, doesn’t often come from the classroom itelf, and certainly not the online learning community. Much of the preparation work needed for academic achievement takes place in a favorite reading spot at home, discussions at dinner, or kids playing table games.
Educators and parents have put themselves on a pedestal of importance that is not real. Adolescents care much more about what other adolescents think than what the significant adults think. Add to this problem the fact that adolescents now have access to each other not just at school, but while riding in their parents’ car, at home in the evening and even into the wee hours of the morning due to the social networking given them by cell phones and the internet. Facebook, IM, and Twitter have kept people in touch, not with new influential mentors, but with the same group of middle school students through early adulthood and beyond. It’s hard to break out and become something greater when you have the anchor of your youth holding you back. This book refers to this as horizontal modeling rather than the preferred vertical modeling.
The Nielsen Norman group has spent considerable time investigating how we read, among other things, web-sites. They have found that users spend very little time searching for information that they find relevant or interesting. Online newspapers are hardly scanned. Few even read the whole headline and only 19% of the newsprint gets any attention at all. Also of concern is the lower-literacy readers skip more information than medium or high level readers.
The Nielson group makes recommendations to web publishers to keep readers engaged. This includes predictable layout, lowest level reading on the home page, ensuring a first page search engine result, paragraphs with half the word count of print material, shorter sentences and bulleted lists.
In the 18-year-old life, there are unlimited choices of things to occupy their minds. Hundreds of TV channels, video games, and web diversions. They do not have to put up with being “bored” by something as mundane as reading for fun, visiting museums, listening to “art music,” browsing a library, or joining a school club or team. We are all to blame for plunking our children/students/friends in front of a screen and failing to climb out of adolescence.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Dumbest Generation Reflection, Reva Potter
I chose this book for my book study because my son owns a copy and it was handy. My son is fifteen and had not finished the book, and now I know why. He probably could not get past some of the statistical information in the beginning without the bullets, headlines, and graphics he loves so much, being a member of a pretty spatially-enhanced upbringing.
But I would like him to read it one day. We would have a lot to talk about. The text-rich environment of his upbringing (his mother is an English teacher after all) make reading and writing and test-taking easy for him. He also is very tech-savvy (obsessed?) and uses most of the usual social networks. His Facebook page is full of all the silly stuff the author laments in the book, and I know he is a truly shallow adolescent at times. But the Internet has also allowed him to experience more intellectual pursuits along with the shallow ones. He is a pretty good researcher for his classes, critical of websites and their authors; he consults the Internet for further information when he is reading something unfamiliar; he consults the Internet for classical music and pieces for oral interp competition; he looks up background information on new authors he is reading and new musicians he finds interesting. So far, I do not see a dangerous member of the Dumbest Generation in the making.
Is my teenager so unusual? This book makes me worried that he is. Sometimes so do the ridiculous additions my middle school students put on their IGoogle pages. So do the terrible habits students have when accepting Internet garbage as research, especially when students from most grade levels think that cutting and pasting text from an article and then “changing some words” is not plagiarism. So many things in this book really struck me at the teaching level, worrying me some, and justifying some of the worries I have already developed in the last 17 years of teaching.
I agree with Bauerlein on a number of points. The Internet and the constant social connections to peers allow them to detrimentally isolate themselves within their peer group. Most students have a disconnect with adults and are often offended that adults think they know more. This may be typical adolescent thinking, but we have not done students any favors by solidifying their thinking when we believe that students know more about using technology than the teachers. They may be able to navigate tools, but thoughtful use of tech tool requires mentoring and advising – the responsibility of teachers.
Bauerlein’s issues with screen time and lack of reading also hit home for me. I agree that vocabulary is a major issue in our culture. It is becoming a dividing line between students who will succeed at their goals and students who will not. It is impacting our students’ abilities to take tests, to critically understand information, and to express their thinking. The statistics on vocabulary, comparing print and screen sources, was astounding to me. No wonder students wait for me to explain directions two or more ways after they read them for themselves; they do not have the vocabulary confidence to know what to do. My hope is that as a language arts teacher, I am using technology to improve vocabulary, showing students tools such as visual thesaurus and the components of online dictionaries to make them better consumers of online vocabulary tools.
This book raises implication about how teachers may want to approach the validity of technology use in their classrooms. When we use tech tools, we have to be aware that we also need to teach the tech tool. It would be a rare middle school student who is an expert researcher online – this needs to be taught. A middle school student will probably not create a Prezi with advanced vocabulary unless the teacher requires this. Student authors will not collaborate in Google Docs with valid editing comments unless these are mentored and modeled. The Dumbest Generation may be happy to stay that way, but their teachers should not be happy to let them.
But I would like him to read it one day. We would have a lot to talk about. The text-rich environment of his upbringing (his mother is an English teacher after all) make reading and writing and test-taking easy for him. He also is very tech-savvy (obsessed?) and uses most of the usual social networks. His Facebook page is full of all the silly stuff the author laments in the book, and I know he is a truly shallow adolescent at times. But the Internet has also allowed him to experience more intellectual pursuits along with the shallow ones. He is a pretty good researcher for his classes, critical of websites and their authors; he consults the Internet for further information when he is reading something unfamiliar; he consults the Internet for classical music and pieces for oral interp competition; he looks up background information on new authors he is reading and new musicians he finds interesting. So far, I do not see a dangerous member of the Dumbest Generation in the making.
Is my teenager so unusual? This book makes me worried that he is. Sometimes so do the ridiculous additions my middle school students put on their IGoogle pages. So do the terrible habits students have when accepting Internet garbage as research, especially when students from most grade levels think that cutting and pasting text from an article and then “changing some words” is not plagiarism. So many things in this book really struck me at the teaching level, worrying me some, and justifying some of the worries I have already developed in the last 17 years of teaching.
I agree with Bauerlein on a number of points. The Internet and the constant social connections to peers allow them to detrimentally isolate themselves within their peer group. Most students have a disconnect with adults and are often offended that adults think they know more. This may be typical adolescent thinking, but we have not done students any favors by solidifying their thinking when we believe that students know more about using technology than the teachers. They may be able to navigate tools, but thoughtful use of tech tool requires mentoring and advising – the responsibility of teachers.
Bauerlein’s issues with screen time and lack of reading also hit home for me. I agree that vocabulary is a major issue in our culture. It is becoming a dividing line between students who will succeed at their goals and students who will not. It is impacting our students’ abilities to take tests, to critically understand information, and to express their thinking. The statistics on vocabulary, comparing print and screen sources, was astounding to me. No wonder students wait for me to explain directions two or more ways after they read them for themselves; they do not have the vocabulary confidence to know what to do. My hope is that as a language arts teacher, I am using technology to improve vocabulary, showing students tools such as visual thesaurus and the components of online dictionaries to make them better consumers of online vocabulary tools.
This book raises implication about how teachers may want to approach the validity of technology use in their classrooms. When we use tech tools, we have to be aware that we also need to teach the tech tool. It would be a rare middle school student who is an expert researcher online – this needs to be taught. A middle school student will probably not create a Prezi with advanced vocabulary unless the teacher requires this. Student authors will not collaborate in Google Docs with valid editing comments unless these are mentored and modeled. The Dumbest Generation may be happy to stay that way, but their teachers should not be happy to let them.
Monday, December 20, 2010
A Reflection on the Dumbest Generation
This book was very interesting and some of the stats were unbelievable...is my generation really this dumb? This is the question I kept asking myself as I read each chapter. This is my generation, I don't remember high school without computers and the Internet and I distinctly remember playing "Oregon Trail" on an Apple 2E in 5th grade. Google and spell check have always been a part of my generation. Can I be this ignorant and passive? Maybe. I did complete lots of community service and worked hard to attain good grades but I like the rest of my peers chose movies and gossip to reading Kerouac and Eliot. "Today's rising generation thinks more highly of it lesser traits." This quote could not be more true. Take the movie Jackass , for example, there is nothing but lesser traits in this movie and the movie made millions not based on new ideas and themes but the ability of the actors to be hit repeatedly in the groin. How do we as educators help to fix it? How do we inspire kids to read and question and come up with new ideas? The challenge at the end of the book is to help fix the problem to stop the dumbest generation from ruining America. "They may even be recalled as the generation that lost that great American heritage, forever." I liked this book although I think some of it my be extreme. As a person of this generation I find it hard to believe that everyone younger than 30 is dumb. And although we may not be reading the "classics" many of the same ideas have been translated into modern stories that kids are interested in reading. I do feel that civic and history are very important to the education and keeping our country growing and educated but I do not feel that the future is as bleak as the author Mark Bauerlien predicts it to be.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Book Reflection
Book Reflection-The Dumbest Generation by Mary Larscheid-Christensen
The Dumbest Generation brought to the surface many ideas that I had never been presented before. Mark Bauerlein paints an ugly picture of young Americans. The opportunity for young people has never been greater, but instead of being interested in books, he sees them letting their social life guide them. He feels technology, digital empowerment, visual awareness has not led to civically minded, politically inspired young Americans but to self centered social individuals.
This book was essentially filled with the opposite theory of what this class is based on. So as I learned more and more technology each week, I read about how damaging it is for us. It made quite a contrast to consider.
After being exposed to all of his opinions and data, I don’t feel the despair as he does. I am the one that likes to see the glass half full instead of half empty. I am the one to see the “good apple” in the bushel of rotten ones, so I cannot agree with his philosophy of the Dumbest Generation.
I believe you can take data and arrange it and tweak it to show just about any viewpoint you would like it to show. So I feel there are young Americans that are interested in history, civic responsibility, foreign affairs, books, religion and art.
You can always find the best or worst in a group of people. I prefer to look for and expect the best.
The Dumbest Generation brought to the surface many ideas that I had never been presented before. Mark Bauerlein paints an ugly picture of young Americans. The opportunity for young people has never been greater, but instead of being interested in books, he sees them letting their social life guide them. He feels technology, digital empowerment, visual awareness has not led to civically minded, politically inspired young Americans but to self centered social individuals.
This book was essentially filled with the opposite theory of what this class is based on. So as I learned more and more technology each week, I read about how damaging it is for us. It made quite a contrast to consider.
After being exposed to all of his opinions and data, I don’t feel the despair as he does. I am the one that likes to see the glass half full instead of half empty. I am the one to see the “good apple” in the bushel of rotten ones, so I cannot agree with his philosophy of the Dumbest Generation.
I believe you can take data and arrange it and tweak it to show just about any viewpoint you would like it to show. So I feel there are young Americans that are interested in history, civic responsibility, foreign affairs, books, religion and art.
You can always find the best or worst in a group of people. I prefer to look for and expect the best.
Monday, December 13, 2010
No More Culture Wars
Chapter 6 begins with the story of Rip Van Winkle, the popular literary character that falls asleep for 20 years then awakens to a completely different United States. This Washington Irving story reference sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. American youth has forgotten about history and civics. Most of their arguments are based on current events and readings instead of using history and classic reading to make a stronger point. There are no longer groups that demand radical change, no longer groups that argue amongst themselves to prove stronger points. The radical ideas and thinkers of Alcove 1 and Port Huron do not exist. Similar more "watered-down" groups still exist but these groups no longer have radical ideas for change, most of the newer political groups only base their ideas on current issues, media and writing. They have forgotten about history. " The Dumbest Generation cares little for history books, civic principles, foreign affairs, comparative religions, and serious media and art, and it knows less."" They are the latter-day Rip Van Winkles, sleeping through the movements of culture and events in history, preferring the company of peers to great books and powerful ideas and momentous happenings." This chapter ends will a grim look at the future of the United States. If the trends to not change our very culture will be lost. The statistics don't lie, fewer books are being checked out of the library and less kids are going to museums and art galleries. The author encourages those over 30 to change the views of and inspire the Dumbest Generation to change their ways.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
“The Betrayal of Mentors” discussed the pedagogy shift in how students are taught. The main focus of the selection is the change from passive learning to student-centered learning. As the shift is occurring, students are becoming masters of their own knowledge and they begin to seek out for their own understanding. No longer do students feel compelled to follow classic works of art, rather instead they are opting to choose their own course in learning and knowledge. Art students do not desire to draw like Picasa; they want to draw and be themselves.
Not only does the selection focus on the paradigm shift in student-learning; it also directs fault at adult negligence in acknowledging that they (adults) do have more knowledge, and students are not displaying the respect for adults as in the past. The chapter points out that “Nearly 90 percent intended to graduate(high school), and more than one-third of them stated that high school was easy. “
With this bit of factoid, we as teachers are faced with a daunting task; we need to challenge our students who are in need of this extra boost, because as the article states, only the cream of the crop will make the forward attempt and seek more learning opportunities. All students need the challenge versus just the “best of the best” students.
As the chapter continues forward, it brings about a point of mentors. Many students do not have mentor in their life that can give them excellent life-long advice. For example, the article stated “Dissociated from tradition, with nobody telling that sometimes they must mute the voices inside them and heed instead the voices of distant greatness, young people miss one of the sanative, humbling mechanisms of maturity.” Maturity is key to our high school and college students’ advancement. They must understand they do not know everything, and each individual is capable of learning from their elders. Our society has so to say, “Thrown in the hat”, on the youth and quit trying to teach simple etiquette and manners.
Without excellent mentors, many of the youth have become narcissistic. Many feel they simply can learn nothing from others, and they feel they are so special. As the book reminds us, adults are not helping the situation by always telling children “They are so special.” Narcissism is preventing students from unleashing their innermost talents because they do not even try. As they fail, as we all do, they tend to blame everyone but themselves. Man y do not see failure as teaching mechanism, rather instead they simply use it as a way to get out of work, an excuse. Success is determined by the willingness to move forward in difficult times, rather than doing everything perfect or blaming others when something isn’t perfect. Today’s students are struggling with this simple lesson.
Not only does the selection focus on the paradigm shift in student-learning; it also directs fault at adult negligence in acknowledging that they (adults) do have more knowledge, and students are not displaying the respect for adults as in the past. The chapter points out that “Nearly 90 percent intended to graduate(high school), and more than one-third of them stated that high school was easy. “
With this bit of factoid, we as teachers are faced with a daunting task; we need to challenge our students who are in need of this extra boost, because as the article states, only the cream of the crop will make the forward attempt and seek more learning opportunities. All students need the challenge versus just the “best of the best” students.
As the chapter continues forward, it brings about a point of mentors. Many students do not have mentor in their life that can give them excellent life-long advice. For example, the article stated “Dissociated from tradition, with nobody telling that sometimes they must mute the voices inside them and heed instead the voices of distant greatness, young people miss one of the sanative, humbling mechanisms of maturity.” Maturity is key to our high school and college students’ advancement. They must understand they do not know everything, and each individual is capable of learning from their elders. Our society has so to say, “Thrown in the hat”, on the youth and quit trying to teach simple etiquette and manners.
Without excellent mentors, many of the youth have become narcissistic. Many feel they simply can learn nothing from others, and they feel they are so special. As the book reminds us, adults are not helping the situation by always telling children “They are so special.” Narcissism is preventing students from unleashing their innermost talents because they do not even try. As they fail, as we all do, they tend to blame everyone but themselves. Man y do not see failure as teaching mechanism, rather instead they simply use it as a way to get out of work, an excuse. Success is determined by the willingness to move forward in difficult times, rather than doing everything perfect or blaming others when something isn’t perfect. Today’s students are struggling with this simple lesson.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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