Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Did you grow up online? Our students have!

If you have not seen PBS' Front Line's Growing Up Online, I highly recommend
it. (I just watched it - online of course). I suspect the documentary is
well known to many of you.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/


The issues, concerns, & insights raised are interesting and troubling at the
same time. One message I took away; kids are experiencing a totally
different online world than their parents and teachers. I should rephrase,
We ARE aware of their online world. But, not being part of the their online
world, NOT REALLY AWARE.

What implications do their online experiences have for using technology in
the classroom and using technology for the classroom? Their relationship
with/to technology is much different than ours. Despite our best efforts to
understand, what are the unintended learning results affected by this
relationship?

I wonder if we will ever know the unintended lessons learned in the
classroom as a result of the now ubiquitous technology available in most
kids lives? (If we looked into it, are those kids who we worry are without
online access at home just as active in today's student online world as
connected classmates?)

Larry Jeffryes
Los Alamos, NM

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