EDTECH 597 - Generational differences revisited

In case any readers missed the genesis of this blog, this is a "learning blog" initially established as a project for my EDTECH class at Boise State University. So, I'm going take time out from my usual themes and address an issue pertinent to educational technology- the notion of generational differences with regard to technology, and the question of whether or not technology has changed the way students learn in the last decade.

This issue was addressed in an earlier blog post here.

Tonight I pulled the latest issue of Newsweek out of my mailbox. And while Newsweek, of course, is not a scholarly research publication, this week's cover story does cite numerous instances of legitimate scholarly research. According to the article, there still is no clear evidence to prove that student learning - in general - is any different now due to the prevalence of the internet and mobile technology.

However...

If we are to believe the researchers at UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, and M.I.T., then the widespread use of the internet and mobile technology is making people (almost all of us), more depressed, more obsessed, more cynical, more addicted, and more prone to sleeplessness, suicide, and anxiety. Don't believe it? The article is pretty convincing, and pretty scary. Naturally, we must account for the fact that Newsweek, like most media outlets, thrives on scary as a way of selling their content and making money. Still, the research in the article is compelling.

And if the research is solid, then we need to be prepared to confront the idea that these negative effects of technology must have corollary implications for how students arrive at school, and indeed how they learn.

I'm still not going to back away from a statement made by Jaime McKenzie - a statement I quoted in my last blog post on this subject, and one I still believe to be true. McKenzie stated, "Real fifteen year old humans are quite different from each other, a fact that [Marc] Prensky did not take the time to study or notice. Some love things digital. Some are more interested in a horse or a dog or a walk along the shore" (McKenzie).

After considering it, I believe that yes, there are some 15-year olds who love horses or walks on the shore more than video games or texting or Facebook. But damned few of them.

References:

McKenzie, J. (2007). Digital nativism: Digital delusions and digital deprivation. From Now On, 17(2). Retrieved from http://fno.org/nov07/nativism.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants – Part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6). Retrieved fromhttp://www.marcprensky.com/wri...0Part1.pdf