Children Learning in a New World

I've been thinking a lot about how the current school-age generation interacts with technology.

We may joke about how we remember the first cell phone being the size of a brick, but kids today do not know any other kind of world. We may assume that video games, MP3 players, television on our phones and MTV quick editing may be shrinking our children's attention span. At the same time we read reports from all over (specifically Department of Defense studies) saying that the use of video game technology in training has not only led to the amazing ability of drone pilots in the United States flying missions over Afghanistan but also helps foster quick and analytical decision making for ground forces and NFL quarterbacks.

As an education sales consultant I can tell you that I have seen a spectrum of technology currently available to teachers and students. And the technology makes some impressive claims - specifically about student motivation, which led me to this article in Scholastic Administrator magazine. In the very near future the text-book will be a thing of the past. It's actually pretty close to extinct right now. Several school districts here in Ohio (Lorain schools for one) have gone completely digital now that curriculum companies are making the content available in digital format.

21st Century Skills and 21st Century Learners are the current buzz words in education. Students today require a new type of learning environment to prepare them for an ever changing future. Students today interact with their world in a different way. Students today learn in a different way. What is amazing is that while students are living and studying in a more virtual world - their learning is actually more "real" than ours ever was.

Today a class can go on a virtual archaeological dig in South America. During this virtual experience they can study history, science, math, writing, communication, and literature. The virtual experience didn't really take place - but it made the learning much more real because it was tied to experience and simultaneously answering the age-old question, "Why do we need to learn this?" By the way - you can replace the words "virtual archaeological dig in South America" with "virtual Habitat for Humanity build in West Virginia," or "virtual heart transplant at the Cleveland Clinic."

But does it motivate kids?


It may be like the new toy Christmas morning - forgotten by dinner.


What technology are your children using in school?


Does it seem to make a difference in their motivation to learn?