I'm surprised to see how many articles from various major news outlets have written about how dumb my generation is.
Who cares that 1/4 of 18-24 year olds drew a blank when they were asked about Dick Cheney. I'm sure they were blocking painful memories of their formidable years. We should all attempt to forget about him.
I take offense that we measure the quality of our generation based on these surveys. There are many questions that if asked, I'm sure we could answer and prove otherwise.
With technology taking over everything, we are forced to adapt to the trends. Otherwise we loose out. There are a lot of things that our generation understands about technology that makes us smarter than other generations.
We are in fact writing our history.
I do agree, that our brains are changing as a result of technology. It is much harder for me to read a text book or a series of cases. But, it's much easier for me to do the homework for this class because it involves the internet technology. Something I'm using a whole lot during the day. I do have to force myself to read but its totally refreshing when I do.
I do find it atrocious that this fact below might be true. Even after students come to Washington DC and walk through the American History museum they don't know this. Clearly we are skipping huge sections of our history book or class if this is true.
"Two thirds of high-school seniors in 2006 couldn't explain an old photo of a sign over a theater door reading COLORED ENTRANCE"
yikes! that last fact is frightening if true. you and i are also in the same boat regarding internet quickness / textbook slowness :) i'm certainly not owning up to the "dumb" accusation but i've definitely noticed changes in my thinking patterns and ability to pay attention
ReplyDeleteI was also really surprised about how many articles were written on this subject. I agree with you point about adapting to trends...and I enjoyed the Cheney comment :)
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY--adapting to trends...who cares about Cheney, you better know what twitter is! haha...I think I made a similiar point in my blog too. I have also noticed patterns in my ability to pay attention. In my nutrition class the prof is making us do a book review--i mean really??? We should just be blogging about the books we are reading, book reports are so 1990 :-)
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason for teens/adults to be dumb. Technology has created new avenues to learn the same subjects - just a better & creative way.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers/parents need to find a way to incorporate new technology into the classroom and homes. I totally agree w/ Britt, blog about a book instead of a book report, allow to students to apply math/stats/physics using an online game... Adapt is the key issue!
Great post.