Old Posts, Comments

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

"Listenning to the Natives" was a thought-provoking article. While I have never thought about how it pertains to technology, I do believe that our educational system is sorely lacking a respect for its students, their values, and their knowlege - which in many cases, easilly surpasses that of Digital Immigrants, such as myself.

However... I find a few things in this article inherently disturbing. Leading the pack:

"Students would 'vote with their attention' just as adults 'vote with their feet' by leaving the room when a presentation is not compelling. Why shouldn't our students have the same option with their education when educators fail to deliver compelling content?"
The fact is, even in the 21st century, not everything is "compelling". We still find ourselves needing to stay and listen to inept bosses, presentations we don't agree with, and needing to make conversation with mundane conversationalists in order to network. What is "compelling"? Being stimulated by technology at breakneck speeds is thrilling, but not all of the world is made of this level of excitement, even in this techno-era.

The following quote also makes me question why we need to study literature at all... after all, isn't it obsolete?

"Students should be studying 21st century subject matter, such as nanotechnology [and other subjects, all of a scientific nature]"
So I guess my major question of the night is: how do you make literature (and by this, I mean those dusty old books) "compelling"? I believe there are ways, some of them involving the use of camera and video... but one has to wonder - if we only need to speak IM, why bother?


posted by T.Jolie at 7:59 PM 6 comments

You don't make books compelling. Books make themselves compelling, in the same way kittens do ... just expose students to them and watch!

UNCLE RON

10:00 PM


kstearns said...
Just seeing if this comment option works Tamara. I agree w/Uncle Ron by the way. Although I do think teachers can model what it means to encounter a compelling read--and many of our kids today need that before they will/can engage. KES

5:18 AM


Steven said...
I love the way many of the dusty old books are a free read online!

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

see ya in class... let me know who you are...

-Steven-

6:48 PM


Dawn Larson said...
I was also confounded by that same statement as you, whereby if students feel bored they can digitalize themselves out of the classroom where their classmate is giving a presentation (or, where you are lecturing...).

Are attention spans so limited that students CANNOT sit for 40 minutes and listen to a speech/presentation? I mean who ever heard of NOT paying attention (or at least looking like it)?

Also, the article credits students with being amazing multi-taskers, so is he encouraging students to multi-task while watching a presentation?

10:24 AM


UNCLE RON said...
Teachers can touch/referrence a child's prior experiences with compelling reads ... use peer "pressure"/influence to draw out those in the class who HAVE exciting reading habits ... it's the rare class that doesn't have one or two ... and get a little "momentum" going ... this insight is simply to remember that the teacher is not the only "model" in the room, and doesn't need to bear the total responsibility for modelling.

10:17 PM


UNCLE RON said...
And, oh by the way, that "leaving the room" idea MUST be a thought-provoker, rather than a serious one. Students are in class to learn. If it's compelling, that's a bonus, but it's important that the relationship be clear: the student is there to work, not simply open a skull and expect knowlege to be poured in by an unfailingly compelling presentation. It's a two way street, and both halves have an obligation to scholarship itself to attend, physically and mentally, to the best of their ability and make every effort to do so beyond that ability.

10:20 PM



Imigration away from my own simple world of 35 mm film rolls will definitely be an adventure. I'm looking forward to hearing from Indigents and Imigrants alike.

posted by T.Jolie at 3:24 PM 0 comments