Edutopia - June/July 2008 - (Page 35)

“ If you don’t talk to us,you have no idea what we’ thinking. re ” So why am I, at the ripe old age of sixty-two, the person who gives students a voice? Perhaps it’s because the students agree with what I have to say (they typically hear my talk before the panel). Perhaps it’s because I communicate somehow to the kids that I truly respect their opinions. It turns out that not everyone can moderate these panels successfully, especially at ⇒rst. It takes a willingness to accept whatever is said—good or bad, agree or disagree. But it is important for educators to try, because they so rarely converse with their kids about how they want to learn. When I ⇒rst started doing these panels, I regretfully took no notes. But over the past year I have tried to write down as many of the comments as possible. I have heard some enormously insightful comments from the students, particularly about the differences between students and their teachers. “There is so much difference between how students think and how teachers think,” offered a female student in Florida. A young man commented, “You think of technology as a tool. We think of it as a foundation—it’s at the basis of everything we do.” “A lot of teachers make a PowerPoint and they think they’re so awesome,” said a girl in Florida. “But it’s just like writing on the blackboard.” A student in Albany, New York, pleaded the case for using technology in the classroom: “If it’s the way we want to learn, and the way we can learn, you should let us do it.” One teacher queried, “Do computers cut you off from the world?” Not at all, said an excited student: “We share with others and get help. Technology helps—it strengthens interactions so we can always stay in touch and play with other people. I’ve never gone a day without talking to my friends online.” One California high school served up a dose of common sense: “Kids grew up around computers. They love them. Their computers are their second teachers at home.” A student in West Virginia offered this nugget: “If I were using simulation in school, that would be the sweetest thing ever!” I’ve heard some teachers claim that this is nothing new. Kids have always been bored in school. But I think now it’s different. Some of the boredom, of course, comes from the contrast with the more engaging learning opportunities kids have outside of school. Others blame it on today’s “continuous partial attention” (CPA), a term coined by Linda Stone, who researches trends and their consumer implications. Stone describes CPA as the need “to be a live node on the network,” continually text messaging, checking the cell phone, and jumping on email. “It is an always-on, anywhere, anytime, anyplace behavior that involves an arti⇒cial sense of constant crisis,” she writes. “We pay continuous partial attention in an effort not to miss anything.” CPA differs from multitasking, which is motivated by a desire to be more ef⇒cient and typically involves tasks that demand little cognitive processing. We ⇒le and copy while we’re talking on the phone and checking email, for instance. Is this really new? I don’t think so. In fact, I think it has always been the case. Excluding emergencies, or other experiences in which one’s adrenaline is ⇓owing, humans typically always have multiple things on their minds. Still others attribute the boredom to attention de⇒cit hyperactivity disorder, but the T-shirt I recently saw a kid wearing in Rockefeller Center belies this theory: “It’s Not Attention De⇒cit—I’m Just Not Listening!” It’s none of the above. If you believe the opinions of kids around the world (and you ignore them at your peril), the source of the problem is abundantly clear, and it’s this: “I’m bored all day because the teachers just talk and talk and talk.” (⇒fth grader) “[I wish] teachers would not talk at us, but with us.” (West Virginia) Talk, talk, talk, and talk, plus worksheets.” (West Virginia) “They don’t let us do things— they just talk to us.” (Lovejoy, Texas) Blah, Blah, Blah OK, so kids love computers. They all agree on that. There’s another thing they agree on: No matter where I go in the world— the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, or New Zealand—students are mind-numbingly bored in class. Listen up: “She just keeps going on and on.” (Detroit) “They do too much explaining and don’t let us do things.” (Detroit) “I’m bored 99 percent of the time.” (California) “School is really, really boring.” (Virginia) More than half of all secondary school students are excited about using mobile devices to help them learn; only 15 percent of school leaders support this idea. “We are so bored.” (Texas) “Engage us more.” (Texas) “[My teachers] bore me so much I don’t pay attention.” (Detroit) “Don’t just stand in front and tell.” (Albany, New York) “[I hate it] when teachers . . . just read in a monotone.” (Anaheim, California) “Pointless. I’m engaged in two out of my seven classes.” (Florida) “The disconnect between what students want and what they’re receiving is signi⇒cant,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, which tracks youth culture. “Student frustration is rising.” EDUTOPIA.ORG EDUTOPIA 35 Source: Project Tomorrow http://EDUTOPIA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - June/July 2008

Edutopia - June/July 2008 Contents UpFront Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design Young Minds, Fast Times Wii Love Learning No More Pencils, No More Books Tech Without Support All the Right Moves Room to Learn Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Jeff Corwin

Edutopia - June/July 2008

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