Interesting article on technology and thinking skills

[danielle]

http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/08/2008080101c.htm Has technology really fried the brains of college students? Are we doing any better homeschooling? I think my dd is getting a way better education than I got way back when. But this article makes me wonder what she's prepared for.

Danielle

[MaryM]

Excellent article, Danielle! Thanks for sharing. I hope that our home school focus on writing and reading good classic literature plus meaty discussions will help circumvent some of the negatives mentioned in the article. I can certainly see the effect of the self-centered generation in our local high schools and can also sympathize with the teachers, a bit. Good fodder for discussion!

 

Mary

[Nan in Mass]

Not that I have thought about this all that much...

 

I think the problem is other things, some of which are mentioned in the article. Yes, we all need to be able to concentrate deeply on something and think deeply about it, but I also think we all need to be able to multitask in today's world. We are being connected together by technology more and more closely with every year that passes. That means that we don't spend most of our day in peaceful, easy-to-concentrate-in isolation. Instead, we have to deal with that connectedness constantly. Unless we allow our children to learn to multitask with minimal effort, I think we are handicapping them. We all are going to have to live like the mothers of small children do GRIN, with constant demands on our time and attention, because we are so easy to reach now. I think it is good to pick and choose one's technology, since not all of it enhances one's life, but I don't think it is at the root of the problem. And everyone needs to be taught where the off button is and to use it sometimes. I can certainly think of some things I wish had never been invented, but I don't think it is very practical to pretend that they hadn't been. I think it is better to learn to avoid them or alter them so you can live with them than to pretend they don't exist.

-Nan

[Beth in SW WA]

http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/08/2008080101c.htm Has technology really fried the brains of college students? Are we doing any better homeschooling? I think my dd is getting a way better education than I got way back when. But this article makes me wonder what she's prepared for.

Danielle

 

Hmm, Interesting article. Thanks for sharing it. I've been wanting to purchase The Dumbest Generation. I think I will buy it today.

 

He makes some great points. Although, I disagree w/ this paragraph:

 

For academics on the political left, the last eight years represent the sleep of reason producing the monsters of our time: suburban McMansions, gas-guzzling Hummers, pop evangelicalism, the triple-bacon cheeseburger, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?, creation science, waterboarding, environmental apocalypse, Miley Cyrus, and the Iraq War — all presided over by that twice-elected, self-satisfied, inarticulate avatar of American incuriosity and hubris: he who shall not be named.

 

Is he saying GWB is the cause for America's stupidity?

 

He gives accurate examples of the dumbing down of our society. Its so sad. My kids tend to gravitate toward taking the easy road. I'm fighting against this daily.