Comments on: Are wired kids well served by schools?

New generation is self-publishing, programming, and pushing the boundaries of what can be done online. But they're not learning how to do it in school, research shows.

[tundraboy]

Skeptical

I'm a skeptic when it comes to 'wired' or 'tech-savvy' education. I find that access to media and all sorts of media creation tools tends to make the kids (and the teachers!) focus more on presentation than substance.

A friend's kid did a multimedia report on WWII. Beautiful slide show with very compelling soundtrack and photographs about the London blitz. Totally devoid of any meaningful content at all. The kid thought that collecting photographs and artfully arranging them in an emotionally gripping manner made a great report.

We are in danger of communicating the message that a very nice wrapper is an indicator of competence. We need to make sure kids learn how to process information not just gather them and present them in an attractive format. All these media creation tools are just a distraction.

[bsee08]

Yes, but what about the students who truly care about their grades?

Sure there's the group of students that will attempt to scrape by with school projects that have no meaning, but for some students, technology is a *necessary* teaching tool.

To find information students are looking for, all we have to do is search Google and use the right software. 2 examples of my own...
1) As I wrote this post, my inline spell checker noticed that I had misspelled "necessary". I promptly fixed it. If students use the right software, then they will be able to reap it's benefits.
2) I learned basically all of AP Calc from the internet. There are numerous websites out there for math help. Btw, I have an A in the class.

A note back to using the right software, Google Docs allows for collaboration and has multi-language spell checking. Instant messaging also helps students collaborate.

I realize this was a long post, but to talk about technology and school, it was necessary.

[ShapingYouth]

Content is king, wrappers are for junk food

Concur with your concerns, but also would like to impart that sometimes the new media 'wrapper' can house content in a much more compelling, engaging way to impart knowledge in a different form.

As a writer/producer I was skeptical that the 'animoto' tool to create movie style trailers out of visuals would be just 'fluff' incapable of capturing complicated thoughts, even in 'overview' form.

Yet I put my creative director hat on and managed to integrate words, music, images and symbolism in an 'MTV style' thought bubble as an adjunct to (NOT a replacement of) my live presentation with the CCFC Harvard set earlier in the month...

Point? it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition...

As we say at Shaping Youth, we can 'use the power of media for positive change,' applying SOME tools to open the minds and catch the attention of students that might view learning from a different lens.

I completely agree with you that content supersedes tools, format, media magic, or empty techno vessels for meaningful articulation...But solid content can be digitally processed in superior ways, from experiential virtual worlds to prototypes of the future and re-created cities and eras of the past.

As Sydney J. Harris said, "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." Let's hope we don't get caught up in media narcissism staring at our own methodology while missing meaningful lessons elsewhere...often from the students themselves.

[birdtford]

Is it the schools responsibility?

Is it really the schools responsibility to teach students how to use PC's or the internet. I feel they can help if that is what the student wants to learn. I beleive the schools/teachers should be educated enough with PC's and the internet to provide guidence as to what can help students with thier homework. Also, just because a student used media software to creat a clas project. I don't see where that means that they want to go into media as a career. I have used media software for presentations, but my career is not in media and I have no desire to make it my career.

[annewuj]

Delayed grtification animals

If only. I agree that this is a matter of balance. Yes, schools must do much more to use the tools that students find compelling. And certainly immediate feedback from not just the teacher but from peers is central. Good teachers jumped on wikis and blogs as tools that do just that -- allow for collabortaion, peer support and a larning community, while providing students with a real audience, both in the classroom and out.

But all this needs to be balanced against the need to develop learners who are willing to do the hard work of truly internalizing knowledge and building on the work of those who went before to create the next generation of break-through ideas. And while external validation is important, so is the pleasure derived from a personal awareness of a "job well done."

[pglange]

Correction

As Dr. Ito mentioned in the meeting, the research quoted on
YouTube came from Dr. Patricia G. Lange's study of video bloggers
on YouTube. For more information on this research, please see: http://sfaapodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/update-apr-
17-lange-sfaa-paper-2007.pdf

[aldreds]

Intersting assertions re: delayed gratification

I'm not sure that I agree with the delayed gratification argument in this article.
It seems to me that it is more about public acknowledgment in an authentic real world.

A read the "Wrappers" comment with some interest and suggest that students are more likely to engage in higher order thinking when they put together a product based around complex real-world scenarios.

Set a low level task with little real-world context and be prepared to receive a "pretty" and shallow product from some students.