Wow…where
to begin. Chapter 3 of Tapscott’s book, Grown up Digital, has a lot of
information. I could almost write 8 different blogs on the 8 different norms
talked in the chapter, but I can’t. So Ill pick two and talk about them;
scrutiny and customization.
Scrutiny:
In my
geometry class my students are constantly scrutinizing everything that happens
in class. And they should. It is part of the style of the class. In several of
the chapters, statements are made and it is the student’s job to determine if
the statement is always true, sometimes true or always false. An example of one
of the statement was, “a square is a rectangle”. To determine the validity of
the statement I notice some students went online and looked up the definitions
for square and rectangle. They then determined that the statement is always
true.
In addition,
net gens are good shoppers, “When they go shopping, almost two-thirds of Net
Geners tell us, they search for information about products that interest them
before they buy.” So in my class I teach my students about unit prices and
their importance. “Comparing
the unit price of similar products will insure that you get the best deal
available.” (Montaldo)
Customization:
This
is one of the most important characteristics of the net generation.
Customization gives people the feeling that what they have customized is their
own. Whenever we do a project in class I allow my student to modify the project
as much as possible. This gives more meaning to the projects.
There is a really good article in
Education Week, “Schools Use Digital
Tools to Customize Education.” This article talks about the importance
of giving students customization when it comes to their education. Student
should be given a personalized path in their education. They should be able to
choose what class they take. But we need to remember “it’s not about giving
students what they want, it’s about a recommended learning path just for them.”
(Davis)
Sources:
Davis,
M. (2011, March 14). Schools Use Digital Tools to Customize Education. Education
Week, 30, 10-11.
Montaldo,
D. (n.d.). Unit Pricing - The Real Price. About.com Coupons/Bargains.
Retrieved May 23, 2014, from
http://couponing.about.com/cs/aboutcouponing/a/unitpricing.htm
Tapscott,
D. (2008). Grown Up Digital : How the Net Generation Is Changing Your World.
New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing.
I've noticed some of these same tendencies in my students, especially the scrutiny part. When I was a kid, we just listened to what the teacher told us, whether it was a classroom management-related instruction or material that we were supposed to be learning. While a lot of my students might follow instructions just because I'm giving them, I feel like most of them always want to know why, so I make sure they always understand why we do what we do. It didn't have to be that way when I was their age. Many kids of this generation are masters of scrutiny--they need to know the "why" about everything, and there's really nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteExactly. They will likely grow up to be engineers. Who by the way are some of the most insufferable people in the world. (I can say that because my insufferable brother is an engineer.)
ReplyDeleteAh...the always, sometimes, never geometry questions. The bane of geometry students for decades. My students often complain when I put those on a test. They tell me they have to think too much. I tell them that's the point of the question. I commend your students for using the internet as a resource. It is forcing them to discover the details that are part of a geometric definition and is providing them an opportunity to verify that the things you are teaching are actually true. In addition, it is allowing them to personalize their own education while helping to develop stronger research skills.
ReplyDeleteYour geometry post made me think of a video I saw late one night. I found it at teachingchannel.org. It shows a teacher doing a lesson on sorting and classifying equations in 8th grade math. Students have to decide if an equation is always true, sometimes true or never true. I thought I would share it with you incase it pertains to what you teach.
ReplyDeleteThe link to the video is: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/sorting-classifying-equations-overview
You wrote "Customization gives people the feeling that what they have customized is their own." This is so true and I think students value teachers who allow them to customize learning and projects to meet their needs.
I agree with Scott’s comment about the Geometry A, S, N statements. My 7th grade Pre-Algebra students hate these statements with a passion. There are few students in the class that can actually answer them with some accuracy. Developmentally they may not be ready to scrutinize such questions as they show little interest. These students will take Geometry in two more years. I like these statements because they force students to dig deep and find proof.
ReplyDeleteI loved your tidbit on customization. It is important to give students options and direction as we help them guide their personal learning path. I will be curious to see where this heads in the future of education. Too often students who are not college-bound are funneled into the same path as those who are. Every student has a knack for something and think we need to put more emphasis on helping them customize their education to help lead them into a career path of their choice (college-bound or not).
Brian, I also agree that students do and should scrutinize information. Just yesterday I took my husband shopping for a TV. He earned a promotion, so I wanted to buy a TV for him. We looked around, but he said he wanted to wait until he had a chance to research different televisions online. I thought this tied in well with our class. My husband never likes to take the salesperson's advice. He would rather research prior to buying (which I agree with completely).
ReplyDeleteHere are some interesting statistics I found while researching how people shop. This article discusses Generation Y or the Millennials.
https://medium.com/pr-marketing-advertising/c76fb1231fbb
Resource: Honigman, Brian. How Millenials are Shopping: 20 Interesting Statistics and Figures. Retrieved online from: https://medium.com/pr-marketing-advertising/c76fb1231fbb