Digital Media and Digital Youth

The MacArthur Foundation report and the Klopfer article were both interesting for me to read because they delved into some ideas I've thought about only superficially before. I've often had conversations with peers in my age group about how we were the last generation to come of age without constant access to digital media and technology. I can remember a time before the internet, when I found information in books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. The internet was still not commonly used during my adolescence, so I can't entirely relate to younger generations who have grown up with unlimited access to these technologies. I know it's a hot button topic for the media, which generates endless stories about how MySpace is hastening the decline of civilization as we know it, and I try not to let myself buy into that alarmist perspective too much. But at the same time, I feel like social networking sites and online communities must change social interactions and learning in ways we can't yet fully understand.

Although I agree strongly with the idea of incorporating technology into the classroom, these articles did bring up some questions and feelings of hesitation for me. On the one hand, I feel like it's very important to teach students to learn using these new mediums, both for school and for their own personal interest. I also think educators have an obligation to teach their students to use these resources with a critical eye so that they are able to distinguish reliable sources for themselves. I can see the appeal of using some forms of digital games and simulations in the classroom. But at the same time, I think it's important that teachers don't allow students to rely entirely on the types of sources they will naturally gravitate towards. Students are going to use social networking sites and online research sites on their own, without any prompting or encouragement from schools. While we do have an obligation to teach them to think critically about these tools, it seems to me like a waste of valuable classroom time to spend much time talking about Facebook and how it can be used to form social networks when that is something students will learn for themselves outside of school.

The majority of today's students already know how to search for something on Google by the time they turn 10; what they may not know is how to look up a book on a given topic in the library and use it to find relevant information. I think it's especially important in the age of "digital media" not to let traditional media disappear. These resources and tools are more appealing to most students, and that's certainly something educators need to tap into. But at the same time, students need to learn to access information from a variety of different sources, not only digital.

-Molly