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

Guest blogger...and a picture of a goat

Today’s guest blogger is someone who was absolutely against the idea of living in a condo. No privacy; no flowers; no spare room; no autonomy – she just couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea of giving up her home. But I can be pretty convincing. I convinced her to marry me once, so I figured that convincing her to try condo living would be a walk in the park. -DH

I was a somewhat reluctant participant in my husband’s condo living scheme. However, if the past several days are any indication, I am now a whole-hearted convert!

I’ve had the past several days off from work, which in our past (house-dwelling) life would typically mean getting caught up on yard chores. This week has been different.

Wednesday, instead of zipping through the lawn mowing and house cleaning before packing into the car and heading off to find “just the right spot” in the nearest mall parking lot to watch the local Fourth of July fireworks, we took a leisurely bike ride up the road to a nearby Independence Day festival. That night, we walked up the hill to watch the fireworks with friends.

Yesterday, instead of trimming the rhododendrons and transplanting the “name that plant” that always needs transplanting, we went on a trail run at a nearby park, and then spent some time wandering through the park’s vast rose garden. Today, instead of weeding the back yard flower beds and cleaning out the fish pond, we went on a hike in Mount Rainier National Park and “met” a curious mountain goat…and ate lunch while we gazed out over a panoramic view of Mts. Rainier, St. Helen’s, Adams, and Hood!

This picture was not PhotoShopped. Guest blogger is there on the far right.

Tonight, instead of watering the garden, I plan to sit out on the deck with a glass of wine and do some serious people-watching. Tomorrow, instead of pressure-washing the deck, we plan to sleep in. And when we awaken, in those lazy morning hours, we may walk up the street for a pastry and a latte.

Aaah…life is good. I am definitely converted! (But do I have to tell him he was right?)

Commentary on getting pregnant, and not just in that abstract way

My wife wrote a guest entry for this blog today, in which she (reluctantly) admitted I had been right about something. I'm going to return the favor, with regard to a disagreement we had 20 years ago.

At that time, I was 24 and had just saved up enough to purchase my first motorcycle. I was also planning a hiking trip with a few buddies to the Southwest. So when my wife announced she was pregnant, I was dumbstruck. I might have to sell the motorcycle. No more road trips with friends.

Oh, sure, we had discussed the idea of having kids, but it seemed to me that our discussions were always in that abstract, "Sure honey I want to have kids let's start right now" sort of way. Did I mention I was 24 at the time?

Twenty-four, you see, was her outer limit for getting started on child-rearing. If she had her way, she would have had our first child at 22 or so, but I was too busy "living life" to settle down and have children. I'm like a lot of people in my generation, who wanted to spend their 20's traveling, working in coffee shops, and playing the bongos in black turtlenecks at night for free drinks. Having kids? That's something most of our peers started in their mid to late 30's. But my wife was adamant that it was better to start a family when we were young. Looking back, this was a pretty serious difference of opinion between the two of us, and I actually think she was pretty sneaky about getting her way, exploiting my limited understanding of the human reproduction system like that.

But you know what? She had the right idea. Most of my co-workers are now in their 40's and have kids in elementary school. They're going to be in their mid to late 50's when their kids leave home. And right now they are insanely jealous of us. But I think having kids early has other benefits as well: As younger parents, we had much more energy to expend on our small children. And because we had little in the way of careers, we also had no money - which forced us to learn to live frugally early on. And that too has paid off.

So it's worked out pretty well for us so far. And while it might not be right for everyone, I do believe there are couples out there who convince themselves they "should" have a mortgage, and careers, and a 401K before they have kids. But you know what we found? Your children won't remember how much money you had when they were little. They just remember the sandcastles.

City dwellers increasing faster than suburban dwellers

Saw this article about suburban living vs. city living the other day. The first line is, "For the first time in a century, most of America's largest cities are growing at a faster rate than their surrounding suburbs..."

The article goes on to explain why more people are fleeing the suburbs to live downtown.

Interesting.

Poll: What would you do with the spider?

I stood in my son's bedroom, holding a worn, colorful spider. If you're a certain age, you will certainly remember "Beanie Babies," the soft, cuddly beanbag toys that were all the rage a decade ago. Oh, yes, my sons also collected Pokemon cards and Hot Wheels, but those were easier to dispose of... I guess...because my sons didn't sleep with those every night.

But with my son off at college, I found myself cleaning out his bedroom and deciding what to box up for moving, what to throw away, and what to send to Goodwill. And there I was, holding that Beanie Baby spider...his favorite. Sure, he really liked the lizard and the dog as well. But the spider was the one I would find tucked under his chin at night as he slept, all those years ago. Here it was, in his closet, along with 20 more Beanie Babies in a box on the top shelf. He had saved them. But he probably had not looked at them in years. But now it was up to me to decide their fate.

Condos do not have much room for storage; every square foot counts. So there were some difficult decisions to be made.

"Downsizing" is something a lot of people do when they get older and/or when their children move out. Although downsizing can be cathartic, it's not easy giving up space and possessions and...sometimes memories. Below are two polls - share your thoughts on what you would give up, and then, if you want, use the blog comments to discuss your choices!

Confessions of an empty-nest parent

Now that my youngest has graduated from high school and will soon be off to college, I think it's time to come clean. First, a disclaimer: My boys are GREAT kids. In high school they both earned outstanding grades and were very successful in numerous sports and activities. They generally treated other people well; if not always with outright kindness, then at least with courtesy. They never got into any trouble, and stayed away from drugs and alcohol. So. Good kids.

However.

I clearly remember when they were very young, and I - as a high school teacher - witnessed what some parents of high schoolers did. I remember shaking my head and vowing, "When my kids are in high school I will never..."

Now that my kids have both graduated, I can say that the actions of those other parents make much more sense to me now, and I am here today to eat crow. I am not going to offer any rationalization or justifications for my actions, but rest assured that before my kids were in high school I could not have imagined any reasons why these parenting decisions would have been acceptable under any circumstances. And yet...

"My list of 12 things I said I would never do when my kids were in high school, but I did anyway."

1. Ignored son being tardy. To my own class. More than one day in a row.
2. Asked track coach if that workout was really the best she could come up with.
3. Made three different dinner entrees to satisfy the different dietary preferences of four family members.
4. Allowed son to sleep until 3:30 in the afternoon during the summer.
5. Went home during my lunchtime to fetch forgotten homework, track jersey, flash drive, etc.
6. Got in the habit of allowing son and girlfriend to be home alone while wife and I went out for the evening.
7. Asked math teacher to explain how that semester grade was fair.
8. Went to bed at 1:30 a.m. with son still out...somewhere. Did not mention it to him the next day.
9. Paid for car, car insurance, and gas. For years.
10. Figured that if the teacher assigned worksheets for homework that she took directly off the internet, then she must know that the answer keys are pretty easy for kids to find.
11. Cleaned bathroom because it was easier to do it myself than nag.
12. Allowed son to quit a sport in the middle of a season.

There you go. I'm not proud.

Rehabilitated old buildings - links entry

I think one of the coolest things about urban renewal is the rehabilitation of historic architecture. Certainly there are times when, after 100 years or so, a building is just a complete loss and must be torn down. But I think it's great when an old building can be rehabbed into something modern and useful, but still preserve the charm of the original structure. Today I'm going to share some links regarding two of my favorite rehabbed buildings in my neighborhood:

The library at the University of Washington Tacoma was built in 1908 as a transformer house for a power company. It served as a fuel company, and a warehouse, and then was boarded up for decades, before being rehabilitated in 2008 as the college library.

• Here's the building in 1937 when it was a fuel company
• This was the building in the 1970's
• Here is the current exterior of the building
• Inside, they left some of the old machinery in the rafters
• Lots of old brick was preserved inside and out
• Industrial-looking fixtures help preserve the building's origins
• One of my favorite additions is this reading room with lots of windows
• Another exterior of the reading room here
• Inside the reading room - a magnificent Chihuly sculpture!
• Here's a shot of the sculpture at sunset

The Alber's Brothers' Milling Company built their Tacoma mill in 1904. The building served a variety of industrial uses, and then in 2004 was rehabbed in a manner that left much of the original brick building intact, but added modern additions alongside.

• Here is a link to some history of the building
• These two pictures are both fairly modern, but show what the building more or less has looked like since 1904
• The building can be seen in the top center of this 1929 photo
• Also in the top center of this 1975 photo
• Here's the building today, showing the modern addition on the water side
• And from another angle you can see the modern additions, with the original brick building nestled within them
• And this is another good angle
• Inside the building, it has been partitioned into rental spaces for apartments, offices, retail, and an exercise studio.