Welcome to the Digital Generation

For my second podcast, I chose to watch/listen to a selection from Edutopia's Technology Integration Series. I really liked the video feed on this one, it really helped to hold my interest since I am a visual learner. The title was 2009 - A Digital Odyssey. The video begins with music from The Space Odyssey (nice touch) and is in black and white, it shows bored students who are falling asleep while their teacher is lecturing about space while writing on an old-fashioned chalkboard. Teacher gets frustrated and after smacking the eraser on the ledge of the board a few times he throws it up into the air, the video turns to color and we see the students lifting their eyes upwards with outstretched hands - looked like they were worshiping to me... however they were not worshiping, they were welcoming the downpour of laptops, cell phones and iPods into their eager little hands. Hmmm.


We then see the evolution of technology starting in 1989 with SimCity all the way to 2009 with a netbook. This made me think of the beginning of Star Wars when the history was scrolling across the screen. Here are some of the memorable quotes from the podcast. "Technology is more than a tool, it is an essential of everyday life that frames their (students) worldview." "There is more to their world than playing with cool gadgets, this is about engagement, self directed learning, creativity and empowerment." "Digital life is a good thing...its going to help kids create, meet people, explore, compose and express themselves. It give them the most powerful tools than the've ever had in any generation in history."


Honestly, this podcast kind of frustrated me. Even though I am in support of using technology in classrooms that was not the point of this podcast. We saw kids saying things like "my iPod is my entire life" and "I text more than I call people, like, no one calls anyone anymore". I am seriously worried that, as the narrator said, "technology is framing this generations worldview." Yes, the podcast did show some great things that kids are doing with technology like helping kids in Haiti through a website, just about all of the children I know are busy playing on their gaming systems and think nothing of the violence and related evils that they rely on as their entertainment.


It is very true that this generation has the most power than any generation before, and because of that power available to them, I believe that it is of highest importance that we teach our young people how to use that power responsibly. We need to build into their character so that they do not abuse the power that is at their fingertips. We also need to be strong examples in their life. As adults we need to model balance, that is something I strive for everyday.