Last week I was at a meeting at a well known university. The focus was technology and how it is impacting students and the educational system. To prove their point a panel of teenagers was show cased. This panel consisted of both males and females. So here are some of things that the teenagers had to say about themselves and their peers:
Most teenagers have some or many of the common “tech toys” – computer, iPhone, cell phone, iPod, etc.
They use their computers as their TVs, phones and music repositories, among other things. Yes, video games are a huge priority. If you think that only boys play games online, think again – even girls are playing games – “Puzzle Pirates” and other girly games while boys like WOW – World of Warcraft.
Most teenagers get their news from Comedy Central . They follow many blogs and even write their own blogs. Additional time is spent on texting and listening to music. Facebook is the preferred vehicle of communication. Very often they are doing all these things at the same time…………Multitasking in the 21st century 
Teenagers are “flashy,” they love and want bright and colorful things. They want to be in style. Keeping up with their peers in the same sentimentality as their parents who have to keep up with the “Jones’e”. Everything has to be convenient.
One interesting question they were asked was, “What one piece of technology would you choose to keep if you had to make a choice?” Would you be surprised that the response was – a computer. The reason being that a computer can work like any one of their favorite instruments – it will continue to keep them connected to their peers, the outside world and their music, while allowing them to do their work.
On the issue of textbooks – textbooks are too wordy and filled with too much information. Keep them to the point. We don’t need clutter! No they do not know what a Kindle is and would not want the Kindle . They like to “read” their books.
The February 2009 issue of Phi Delta Kappan talks about how media and technology impact the lives of children. Children are now the owners of these tech toys at younger and younger ages. As per the article, 82% of the children are online by 7th grade and experience about 6.5 hours per day of media exposure. Wallis, in an article published in Time Magazine in 2006, supports the fact that these students, when exposed to these tools at an earlier age can learn to use them at the same time – multitasking is possible. How it impacts their brains and capabilities remains to be decided. Many people believe that they are not able to focus, whereas when you ask the students they will very emphatically will tell you that they can only learn with music. Wallis will tell you that the human brain is not designed to multitask as well, and that errors increase and things take longer to complete. The reality is to be decided.
In the end, even though their teachers used Powerpoint, projectors and Smartboards to teach them, according to the teenagers “the teacher was still the preferred mode” of being taught! A surprising comment from one of the students, which the rest agreed with was that, “(we) cannot learn from notes from a teacher online, we need a teacher.”
So here is our charter – to provide content that engages many kinds of learners since the students of today have many things that can fill up their time and make them feel that they belong. Keeping their minds occupied is easy. It’s with what you occupy their minds is the question!
