Mylene_Melson_Web20

The article from Innovate was an attempt to rationalize the statement “If you can’t beat them, join them.” but I actually found myself agreeing with much of the article in terms of what the N-Gen is like.My two children fit this mold and I find it sad that they would rather text someone than talk to them. For example, it will take quite a few texts back and forth to plan something where a phone call would have been faster. When they were looking for jobs, applications and resumes were sent online.This was such a time saver but then my husband went over the art of thank you letters for the interview that would actually be mailed.This is a mix of old school and the digital age.  I worry that this generation is too dependent on getting their entertainment and enhancing their social life on the web. On an educational blog I found an interesting YouTube video about how damaging putting information on the web can be to someone’s life. He gave two examples that struck me. 1)A woman was denied her teaching certificate from a college who decided that someone who would post a picture of herself drinking on MySpace would not be worthy of the profession and 2) a man who posted an article about how he had tried LSD in the 60s was permanently denied entrance into the US from Canada.  As far as school is concerned, students and teachers need to find a balance to bring both worlds together. Teachers need to incorporate technology in their lessons and allow students more creative responses to lessons. I enjoy seeing student projects where they have used the technology that is available. I think however that computational skills in Math and spelling skills in English should not be ignored just because we have calculators and spell check. I understand that the digital world is here to stay but that does not mean that students need to have it on 24-7.  In Henrico County we have a laptop initiative which has such great potential for teachers and students. I heard a journalist in Canada once who said that to be bilingual was such an advantage because you would be able to get many different world views and interpretations on events occurring here and around the world.The web is like that. When you can have discussions with people around the world, it can change the way you think about things. It gives you a broader perspective on things.  The article seemed to embrace the digital age and the N-Gen as the new way of life. We need to remember that there is nothing wrong with the printed text and students should appreciate that their digital world can co-exist with books. How many times have you heard that the book was so much better than the movie? It is because we can imagine so much that comes from the written word. We can feel words so much more than with a director’ or actor’s interpretation.       