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Digital Nation Live Discussion: Education in the Digital Age
“
La educación en la era digital”
Debate entre Mark Bauerlein, Marc Prensky, Debra Socia y
Todd Oppenheimer24 de junio 2009
Digital Nation
: Good morning, and welcome to Digital Nation's live discussion about education andtechnology.10:57
Marc Prensky
: I'm here-Marc
10:57
Digital Nation
: We'll get started in a minute or two as our panelists join us10:57
Mark Bauerlein
: I'm in--Mark B.10:57
Debra Socia
: I'm here as well -Deb10:57
Marc Prensky
:
Hi Mariana!
10:57
Digital Nation
: And there's Marc Prensky! Marc is the author of Don't Bother Me Mom -- I'mLearning.10:58
Digital Nation
: Mark Bauerlein is a professor at Emory University and author of The DumbestGeneration.10:59
Marc Prensky
: Now that's being respectful :-)10:59
Digital Nation
: And Debra Socia is principal of the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, a publicschool in Boston11:00
Digital Nation
: Looks like Todd isn't here yet, but hopefully he'll join inshortly.11:00[Comment From mariana affronti ]´This discussion is only by chat or we can hear you...?
11:00
Digital Nation
: Hi Mariana, it's just text!11:00
Mark Bauerlein
:True, Marc, not respectful, but provocative--which I've found on occasion works better with studentsthan does the encouragement-support-inspiration approach.
11:00
Digital Nation
: Let's go ahead and get started!11:01
Marc Prensky
:Students?, I assumed that the gneration you were talking about it was yours :-)!
11:01
Digital Nation
: Our first question comes from atmzeal: Distractions in the classroom have alwaysexisted going back to days where kids blew spit balls through straws. With cell phones, we also facethe issue where it has evolved from a safety net with our 911 into a cheat tool, an sms tool, or a mini"black box" electronic gateway. I've seen small high school classrooms and large lecture halls becomepower struggles between professor and student. How will we face problems like cell phones orcomputer games which can distract not only the using student, but surrounding students as well?11:02
Debra Socia
: Great question. We have to make the actual lessons far more interesting andengaging. We have to insist that students are on task. We can and should have high expectations -which students will meet if we give them the opportunity.11:02
Mark Bauerlein
: Indeed, the question is excellent. The difficulty with digital tools in classrooms isthat while they provide miraculous access to information and resources, they also empower so manyadolescent mores and expressions. How do teachers support the one and limit the other?11:02
Marc Prensky
:Computers don't support the "lecture" or "tell-test" pedagogy at all. If you are sitting with your laptopduring a lecture it's Facebook City for all of us!
11:03
Marc Prensky
: If on the other hand studet have something challenging to dso on their computersthat realtres to the class...11:03
Debra Socia
: My suggestion is that we change our thinking about what a lesson looks like. Weshould not assume that a lecture is an effective tool.
11:04
Digital Nation
: Another reader wrote, and this seems related,That history teacher in Growing Up Online said something that really stuck with me, that teachershave to also be entertainers to keep kids' attention. Do you feel that's true, and if so, is it a problem
we should be working to solve?11:04
Mark Bauerlein
: Yes, the pedagogies will have to change with the new technologies, and findingways to hold students' attention will become all the more crucial. But what if the kids, equipped withthe latest tools, keep moving faster than the teachers, at least in terms of what they find relevant?11:04
Marc Prensky
: Attributed to marshall Mcluhan: Anyone who makes a distiction between educationand entertainment son't know the first thing about eiyther one!11:05
Debra Socia
: As a 30 year educator, I have to say that I always felt i had to be "on" when I wasteaching. That meant that I had to be engaging and interesting!11:05
Marc Prensky
: Relevance is not the answe--make it REAL and students will be interestdd11:06
Digital Nation
: Can you talk about ways that you've seen technology used in a classroom, eitherreally successfully or really unsuccessfully?11:06
Marc Prensky
: Hdelp kids affect and change the sworld while they are in yourclass!11:06
Digital Nation
: More specifically?11:06
Mark Bauerlein
: Agreed, and what too many teachers give up on, I think, is that The Aeneid, the Federalist Papers,Macbeth, and The House of Mirth are all deeply REAL, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.11:07
Debra Socia
: We have used technology to read and listen to themselves as they learn English. Avery effective tool. Students save their practice sessions and critique their efforts over time.11:07[Comment From mariana affronti ]What does that say about all the information that our students recive, and have to contrast, filter, whatdo you say about "cut and copy" in students work?11:07
Marc Prensky
11:08
Mark Bauerlein
: Since I disallow laptops and cell phones in my classes, and stick to activities suchas memorizing and reciting poems, I can't give examples.11:08
Debra Socia
: Mariana, I would say that 35 years ago, when I was in college, I copied and quoted.It was just like cut and paste, but it sure took longer!
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