Pam Callahan’s EDUC628 Blog
Online Education Course
Growing up with Google: What It Means to Education
This week, I found an interesting link on the OLDaily site which discusses the “Net” generation and how significant of an influence the web has been on their lives. The article goes in-depth about the social behaviors of students, and then branches out to education. On the good side, I absolutely love being part of this world because I have instant access to just about anything I want to know. I can pick the brains of other educators by reading blogs or joining discussion groups. I can go to sites like MarcoPolo or Edutopia and find great activities to use with my students. So in that respect, growing up with Google is a good thing. On the flip side is this quote that I found of particular interest:
“Other mental models also present challenges. Many of our students, and their parents, are focused on achievement: ‘getting an A’ so they can get a good job. If there is too much focus on getting the grade – and getting it as easily as possible – students may not be learning all they should. Problem-based learning methods and authentic learning models have been proven to be highly effective. However, students often complain that these alternative approaches require too much time. We need to help our students, parents, and communities see the value in these more complex learning environments. If instructors and students don’t see the value of putting additional work into learning, it will be impossible to change the status quo or improve the competitiveness of the future workforce.”
We live in a society where instant gratification now seems the norm. My biggest complaint about my students is that many of them do not have a good work ethic. They don’t retain materials that they learn from year to year. Their parents pressure students to be part of honors courses and to get the A, and when they don’t, the blame is put on the teacher. Honors courses get slowed down because the teacher has to be sure everyone learns, and some students just can’t keep up with the pace. When the students can’t make the grade, the parents come in on their behalves wanting extra credit.
I feel like the biggest challenge as a teacher is to teach my students how to think. I have been able to motivate some of my students, but I do have others who just squeak by. I am trying to instill values on them that will help them in the future. I feel like my job is more about teaching them to be good human beings than to teach them content that they will never need and will forget in the blink of an eye.
April 6th, 2008 at 7:34 am
I too have similar worries. I teach fifth graders and on a daily basis one of them will ask can I just google it? Instead of wanting to have a discussion and build on what they already know, they just want the answer. I also take issue with the ever so popular method of simply copying and pasting students use when completing research projects. They seem to have no problem stealing other’s work and I’m often told by them their parents helped them do it. A big challenge when incorporating technology into our school’s is teaching students to use it responsibly.
April 6th, 2008 at 7:59 am
If we ask questions that can be answered on Google, then why shouldn’t they Google it?
While I wouldn’t argue that discussion requires a certain level of knowledge to allow meaningful participation, seems to me you can teach to a higher level in Bloom’s Taxonomy than the awareness level. There’s a certain power in authentic tasks.
Compare the cognitive requirement to answer ..
What is Education?
to
How does Education influence Technology?
One you can answer with Google. The other you can’t.
If we only ask Google-able questions, we shouldn’t be surprised if our students rely on Google for answers.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I am so glad that I’m not the only one that feels like I need to become their parents and teach them the things that their parents should have taught them. Ok, I’m putting words in your mouth, Pam, but that is how I feel. I have to teach the kids proper behavior and thinking habits before they can learn in class. I get so tired of the students thinking they can do whatever they want and say whatever they want. They feel that is their freedom of speech in which I feel their parents should have corrected them many years ago by the time I get them. I will then have to remind them that their rights end where other’s begin.
I also wanted to comment to Nate about his post on asking questions that google can answer. I think that she was talking about asking the leading simple questions to build up to the thought (nongoogle) questions. The first googleable questions are something the students are suppose to already know and yet they still wanted to google it. Correct me kbechtel (sorry, don’t know your name) if I’m wrong.
April 6th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
That’s exactly my point.
Stop asking questions that can be googled. Ask the thought question FIRST. The answers will be much more pertinent.