tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73482142146164436112023-11-15T22:54:02.216-08:00net4s20Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15932921380354264309noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-61653603701243414672011-02-07T09:17:00.000-08:002011-02-07T09:19:02.824-08:00Carolyn's Book ReflectionWhile reading “The Dumbest Generation”, by Mark Bauerlein, I was struck by several thoughts. First, as soon as I started reading the book, I felt a sense of aggravation and frustration for the current generation. The author implies that since this current generation of learners is using technology so much, they are more ignorant than previous learners. “They seem so adept with technology, multitasking to the amazement of their parents. They care so much about the trappings of cool, and are so conversant with pop culture. But they blink uncomprehendingly at the mention of Reformation, the Second Amendment, Fellow Travelers, and Fellini. (34, Bauerlein) I view the availability of technology for the use of today’s learners just the opposite of the author. They like using technology; it excites them, and in turn, encourages them to use it to research. When I asked a current Senior in High School about the above items, they knew at least a little about each of them. I credit technology for this.<br /><br />Secondly, again, the author implies that just because a student can multitask with technology, they are learning nothing about the whole world. “On one hand, they navigate the multimedia environment like pros, wielding four email accounts and two virtual identities, jumping from screen to keypad to iPod without pause, creating “content” and expressing themselves to the world. On the other hand, they know remarkably little about the wider world, about civics, history, math, science, and foreign affairs, and their reading and writing skills remain at the 1970s level.” (94, Bauerlein) Here, also, I disagree with the author. I see not learning at the 1970s level as an asset not a deterrent to learning. The mind-boggling hours of reading extremely uninteresting facts vs. research with interesting technology is a huge plus to this generations learning.<br /><br />Finally, I did find a common attitude with the author when he discusses how the amount of technology available to learners today is making them, and all of us, lazy. “In the 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement, a college counterpart to the High School Survey of Student Engagement, seniors in college logged some astonishingly low commitments to “Preparing for class.” Almost one out of five (18 percent) stood at one to five hours per week, and 26 percent at six to ten hours per week. College professors estimate that a successful semester requires about 25 hours of out-of-class study per seek, but only 11 percent reached that mar”. (6, Bauerlein) As a High School teacher, I find constant frustration when surveying the study habits of students. When left to their own resources after school and on weekends, they are participating in technological activities but very little of it is for educational purposes.Carolyn Schuldieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10881995534940591269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-39630175047425515062011-01-28T11:26:00.001-08:002011-01-28T11:26:35.117-08:00Carolyn's Animoto<object id="vp1EmTUU" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1296242453&f=EmTUUyAKRTwcX5PKjZBCpw&d=36&m=b&r=w&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1EmTUU" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1296242453&f=EmTUUyAKRTwcX5PKjZBCpw&d=36&m=b&r=w&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object><p>Create your own <a href="http://animoto.com">video slideshow</a> at animoto.com.</p>Carolyn Schuldieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10881995534940591269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-8487375898785447122011-01-23T22:22:00.000-08:002011-01-23T22:34:16.195-08:00Hillary Hill's Animoto<object id="vp1kYKBu" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295850827&f=kYKBumiBt5mj6DS63RqFmA&d=34&m=b&r=w&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1kYKBu" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295850827&f=kYKBumiBt5mj6DS63RqFmA&d=34&m=b&r=w&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object><p>Create your own <a href="http://animoto.com">video slideshow</a> at animoto.com.</p>Hillary Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18272526710207235349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-50578978527984984912011-01-16T20:48:00.000-08:002011-01-16T20:48:40.192-08:00Burns Animoto Project<object id="vp1sPBw3" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295239594&f=sPBw3Zj7gsnMNlujUbDADg&d=53&m=a&r=w&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1sPBw3" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295239594&f=sPBw3Zj7gsnMNlujUbDADg&d=53&m=a&r=w&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object>Jonette Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142795587759152702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-43552089643739214132011-01-16T10:57:00.000-08:002011-01-16T10:58:50.880-08:00Animoto from Willmus<object id="vp1iXBCA" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295204310&f=iXBCAkfpCI6iwLCDpen1Og&d=37&m=b&r=w&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1iXBCA" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1295204310&f=iXBCAkfpCI6iwLCDpen1Og&d=37&m=b&r=w&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object><p>Create your own <a href="http://animoto.com">video slideshow</a> at animoto.com.</p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-79516510902528804012011-01-09T15:52:00.001-08:002011-01-09T15:52:54.212-08:00Hillary Hill's ReflectionReflection Post – The Dumbest Generation<br /><br />Overall, I think the author was overly pessimistic throughout the book. He brings up some very valid points, and I learned things from the book. However, I don’t agree with him overall. To say that this generation is the one “that lost that great American heritage, forever” seems pretty ridiculous. Like American heritage is just going to disappear. As though teachers will just stop teaching Romeo and Juliet or the class “American History” will just cease to exist. <br /><br />Technology may make students read less, but there are a lot who still read. We can’t forget about the millions of dollars of revenue generated by Harry Potter books, Twilight series books, etc. There are kids who spend their time on computers, video games, and cell phones instead of reading, but there have always been kids who were not into reading. Even before the time of all this technology, there were always kids who preferred to do something else than read. <br /><br />What I learned from this book is that history, literature, and traditional things are viewed differently by this generation. As a music teacher, that would apply to my subject area in regards to music history, composers, etc, not being viewed as something important by some students. So, I need to find ways to make this important info seem fun and interesting and exciting. Using technology can help make lessons that some students would call “boring” more appealing and interesting.Hillary Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18272526710207235349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-38098247671389121682011-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:002011-01-09T11:36:55.208-08:00K.Willmus' Reflection<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><table border="0" name="" width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><tbody style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><tr align="" valign="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="45%" align="" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Reviewing "The Dumbest Generation:"<br /><br /><i>"Anyone who thinks this is mere intergenerational grousing, the time-worn tradition of an older generation wagging its finger at a younger one, should think again. <br /><br />Drawing upon exhaustive research, detailed portraits, and historical and social analysis,<a class="undefined" editor_id="mce_editor_0" href="http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/buythebook.html" target="_self" mce_real_href="page6.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(88, 121, 147); text-decoration: underline; ">The Dumbest Generation</a> presents an uncompromisingly realistic study of the young American mind at this critical juncture. The book also lays out a compelling vision of how we might address its deficiencies."</i><br /><br />I "googled" Mark Bauerlein and found the above statement front and center on Bauerlein's own webpage promoting his book. I thought, "Critical juncture? Young American Mind? Uncompromisingly realistic? Can this baloney get any deeper in two sentences or less?"<br /><br />When I started reading this book I tried to give the author the benefit of the doubt by trying to focus on his statistics and "compelling vision." But by the time I got to the last chapter, with its ramblings of Rip Van Winkle and an educated populous necessary for a viable democracy, I was affirmed in my original guess that the author is a white, east-coast baby-boomer who has some sort of bone to pick with the way things are versus the way things were in the "enlightened" past.<br /><br />Bauerlein's premise is apparently "The Dumbest Generation cares little for history books, civic principles, foreign affairs, comparative religions, and serious media and art, and it knows less..." and that this will spell doom for all of us in the future.<br /><br />I <i>totally</i> beg to differ. Yes, teenagers may not be logging hours in the library with their noses stuck in John Dewey's "Democracy in Education." Thank god. The protesters who marched with Martin Luther King hadn't read it, either.<br /><br />Teenagers these days know the fundamentals of the constitution as well as their baby-boomer elders who did an about face in the past ten years and instituted liberty-crunching homeland security measures. It's neo-cons and baby-boomers of Bauerlein's age who marched us into the Iragi war, and killed countless innocent people since 9-11 in the war for democracy.<br /><br />As for foreign affairs, there is plenty of proof that there never has been an American generation more in tune with gobalization. As they should be, because they're going to need to be.<br /><br />Comparative religions? The generation born since 9-11 has been soaked in Islamic-Jewish-Christian relations as much as the generations previous were brought up in Democratic-Communist issues.<br /><br />And "serious" media and art? Give me a break. Does that mean that because they don't read the "Wall Street Journal" or hardcover books or attend opera or Broadway musicals (have you seen the price of those tickets?) or paste Andy Warhol Campbell soup cans on their walls, that they're not interested in art?<br /><br />I'm not sure if Bauerlein's spent much time with today's teenagers. Perhaps he's been reading too many books instead of listening in on their facebook ramblings.<br /><br />I agree teens these days spend an inordinate time playing video games, watching empty-calorie cable, and sending each other banal text messages. Earlier generations smoked pot, watched "The A-Team" and played hours of sand-lot baseball. So yes, I do think Bauerlein's guilty of intergenerational grousing.<br /><br />The one positive thing I took away from the book is that I do agree today's technology can be mind-numbingly overwhelming. Our days at our computers weaken and bloat our bodies, fry our attention spans, and radically change our concepts of the real world by allowing a virtual world to take over. We, all of us, need to get out side, move our bodies, touch things, and experience non-virtual work, non-virtual nature, and non-virtual life. But to suggest that the cure to that is to spend time in a library becoming intellectuals is a hollow solution.<br /><br />Today's generation may need to learn to turn away from their me-centered technology, but that's not to say that they need to turn away from technology. Never before in the history of our planet has so much valuable information been available for so many. If teens fritter away time by playing with technology for technology's sake, then that may be a negative side-effect we need to deal with. But Bauerlein's books seems to advocate the old saying of "throwing out the baby with the bathwater."<br /><br />I think we're going to need to keep the baby.</td></tr></tbody></table></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-384092038650834022010-12-22T14:39:00.000-08:002010-12-22T14:39:13.348-08:00Burns Reflection<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A key concept in the book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dumbest Generation</i>, is the increased amount of students using technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author determines this is a direct link to the increased gap of achievement among students today, referring to them as the dumbest generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bauerlein provided many statistics to support his claim and also a survey of the amount of time students spend consuming different types of media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His concern is that students spend a substantial amount of time in front of a screen versus reading a book and that these students have little or no appreciation or knowledge of arts and world facts and events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think there is some truth to his concern, but when I read the text I had to remind myself that an author’s evidence is only what he or she is willing to offer the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Social networking creates a powerful group element that has never seen before in history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the text, IQ tests have become more complex to meet our growing intelligence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This should tell us that how <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our children are using digital technology to enhance their learning is very positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my own classroom, I began to notice something that I don’t think I noticed prior to being in this course. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of my two online math courses, I have about half of the class log in the computer and instead of beginning their math course, the go to various news sites (usually MSNBC and read a few current events).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generally they share a story with a neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first I was harping on them to get started with the math for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But during this course, I realized that this was a good thing and I continue and encourage them to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to a critic of the book (</span><a href="http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-the-dumbest-generation-how/"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri;">http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-the-dumbest-generation-how/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">), the author “ignores the fact that the generation before was just as disinterested in high art (and traditionalists blamed MTV), and the generation before them also seemed more interested in teen escapism than classical music or Victorian literature (and the traditionalists blamed rock and roll)”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the author’s heavy use of statistics, it doesn’t convince me that our students are getting dumber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Jonette Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142795587759152702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-68144823173934994772010-12-20T17:41:00.000-08:002010-12-20T19:02:16.035-08:00Schwab's Relection PostUnlike some people in our group, I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Bauerlein's book, "The Dumbest Generation". It helped me understand many things about my students and how they look at school and their own education. I don't necessarily feel that the author was overly negative but rather more concerned with the outcome of all the research that has been done on why students are the way they are. When "three out of four ACT-tested 2006 high school graduates who take a core curriculum are not prepared to take credit-bearing entry-level college courses with a reasonable chance of succeeding in those courses." (pg 110), something has to be remiss. So I created a short survey for my own students (ninth and tenth grade science students) to determine some of their own likes and dislikes in relation to reading and technology usage. I figured this would give me several key concepts to use as a topic of this post. What I originally thought was going to be my topic--Technology usage versus Reading--was soon changed when 60% of my students responded that they enjoyed reading for pleasure over playing a video game! So I dug a little deeper and analyzed all of their answers on the survey. I soon found a startling correlation to another topic in the book: the difference in the number and types of words used by readers versus students that do not enjoy reading. On page 130, the author states "A low-reading, high viewing childhood and adolescence prevent a person from handling relatively complicated texts, not just professional discourses but civic and cultural media...". Furthermore, "Education researchers have found that children raised in print-heavy households and those raised in print-poor households can arrive at school with gaps in their word inventories of several thousand words." When I read my students' answers to the survey questions, these statements popped into my head and it was if a lightbulb came on. I was seeing the results of many years of viewing habits in my students' answers! Most of the students that responded that they do not like to read did so in sentence fragments with misspelled words, even though they were asked to answer in complete sentences. They were also asked to list reasons why they do not like to read, not to just say it's boring. And they could not follow those directions. Here are a few sample answers, complete with spelling and grammarical errors. <br />1. boring, dont peak my intrest,<br />2. I never have I don't get In to books<br />3. It makes me tired<br />4. Reading isn't exciting, nothing happens, its really boring.<br />5. I don't like to read because in my opuinine {opinion?} it is a wast of mytime<br />And my favorite...<br />6. i think reading is Really Really Really Really boring<br /><br />Compare those weak statements to those made by the self-professed readers:<br />1. Reading builds my imagination, helps my fluency, and encourages role playing.<br />2. I love reading because its really entertaining as well as beneficial to your brain. It can sort of take you to a different place.<br />3. I enjoy reading because its fun. You get to have this picture in your head and imagine what's going on. You get to be in your own little world.<br />4. Because it gives me ideas for my stories. The books I read are full of amazing new things, books are creative, and reading sparks my imagination.<br />5. Reading gives me something to do when I am bored. I can learn more about different people and how it was during certain times (1970's).<br />And my favorite.....<br />6. I like reading because you can go to a place you don't see in video games and you can relate to it at times and for me I have constant flashbacks of what happened in the book so I'm like making a movie in my head.<br /><br />Even to the casual observer you can see the differences in the writing styles. The readers use bigger words (imagination, entertaining, flashbacks) and write in complete sentences. Their spelling is better and their word usage is more correct. And fewer of them use "really" as an adjective. But what troubled me most was that the readers seemed to have this ability to see pictures in their mind's eye when reading and the non-readers/gamers did not have this ability. Was this why they were drawn to video games, because they couldn't come up with their own images, so they rely on the game's images to entertain them? Is this due to differences in how the brain is "wired"? Are we programmed to be readers and non-readers? Or is it due to habits that are picked up when children are very young and impressionable? The research in the book was all after the fact: those that had high-viewing childhoods knew fewer words before they even entered kindergarten and they were never able to catch up to their peers that were raised in book friendly homes. <br />So giving a child a book as a gift is really helping them become better students. I don't think this comes as a surprise to any of us.Geryl Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13401885590187163957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-84351622211167035682010-12-13T12:32:00.001-08:002010-12-13T12:40:35.528-08:00Technology and Ebenezer ScroogeBy the way, "A Christmas Carol" was the first story to be broadcast by a radio.<div><br /></div><div>There have also been a least seven full-length movies made from the story (many more which have been take-offs of the theme.)</div><div><br /></div><div>There have been countless TV shows, computer games, music and videos inspired by "A Christmas Carol." </div><div><br /></div><div>And still, my 8th grade class of Native American kids in SD enjoyed reading the novella in its original form.</div><div><br /></div><div>If kids don't read these days, it's our fault in not guiding them and in not giving them the time to do so.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, I was able to access the original Dickens' composition directly off the web because it's now in public domain. I downloaded it to my word document, did a little editing, highlighted the vocabulary words, entered the vocab words on www.quizlet.com, and finished with a Google Docs test. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still mystified as to why this author is so negative about technology!</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-69086872016471664532010-12-13T12:14:00.000-08:002010-12-13T12:42:05.296-08:00Assignment for Students: Create a Voki for one of the characters of "A Christmas Carol"<object id="voki" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,115,0" width="200" height="267"><param name="movie" value="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fvhss-d.oddcast.com%2Fphp%2Fvhss_editors%2Fgetvoki%2Fchsm%3Db615ac2a9e936dc5ff098e6ecacdcb7a%26sc%3D3179760"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="scale" value="noborder"><param name="bgcolor" value="#"><embed src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fvhss-d.oddcast.com%2Fphp%2Fvhss_editors%2Fgetvoki%2Fchsm%3Db615ac2a9e936dc5ff098e6ecacdcb7a%26sc%3D3179760" swliveconnect="true" name="voki" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" scale="noborder" bgcolor="#" width="200" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>This is my Voki which I used in class this week. See comments below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-51334646100808706232010-12-09T21:20:00.000-08:002010-12-09T21:20:31.012-08:00Chapter 6 ~ No More Culture WarriorsThis section of the book began by retelling the story of Rip Van Winkle. This was a tale of a Dutch American villager who stays in the woods for a 20-year nap. Before, people found an old newspaper and debated public issues months after it happened, but after he woke from the nap he discovered they participate directly in the same type of events. At first, I really did not piece the correlation of the Rip Van Winkle scenario to the conclusion of the book.<br />
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Toward the end of the section, the author states that as of 2008, the intellectual future of civic understanding and liberal education looks dim. The social pressures and leisure preferences of young Americans help in setting the direction of the American mind. According to the author, the direction is downward. He provided the following joke told during the seventies about college students after the late sixties.<br />
<br />
“What do you think of student ignorance and apathy?” the interviewer asks the sophomore.<br />
“I dunno and I don’ care”—<br />
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The author made a bold statement about the Dumbest Generation caring very little for things such as history books and civic principles, foreign affairs, etc. and that they know less. The comparison of Rip Van Winkle made at the beginning of the chapter was made toward this generation. That is, that they are the latter day Rip Van Winkle, sleeping through the movements of culture and events of history who would rather be with their peers instead of great books and momentous happenings. According to the author, intellectual life can’t compete with social life for the Millennials.<br />
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He went onto state that if parents and teachers don’t realize the issues (fewer books and more videos checked out of libraries, more kids go to a mall than a museum, etc) then they are blind. In his opinion, unless things change the Dumbest Generation will be remembered “as the fortunate ones who were unworthy of the privileges they inherited. They may even be recalled as the generation that lost that great American heritage, forever.”<br />
<br />
I agree with the Section 3 summary in that the author is very pessimistic. I can almost envision the author as being a very old fashioned teacher, stuck in his own ways. Too stubborn to realize that things change, they aren’t always going to be like the old ways, and that change can be positive; it doesn’t have to be viewed as negative. I’ve witnessed impact technology has played on our students and teachers and the result is mostly positive. Change is what you make of it, in my opinion.Jonette Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142795587759152702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-90687316872723212982010-12-07T22:36:00.000-08:002010-12-07T22:56:29.815-08:00Chapter 5 Summary: The Betrayal of the MentorsThis section of the book is all about how the teachers of today's students have led to their being the dumbest generation. It says that teachers are always telling students what a great job they are doing, etc, and making them overconfident Narcissists. This leads to the students thinking that they are doing great, and need to study less and work less hard. <br /><br />The mentors (teachers) of these students are all doing a "student-centered approach" because that has been found to be a best practice in education. They are no longer acting as experts, but instead, are letting students discover the information. According to the author, taking these teachers from "sage on the stage to guide on the side" makes students disinterested in learning. "If mentors are so keen to recant their expertise, why should students strain to acquire it themselves?" "Knowledge and tradition are emptied of authority." <br /><br />It talks a lot about how students no longer value tradition, literature, or their teachers. Students used to read and model their studies after great geniuses, but now just look to their peers for guidance. <br /><br />A new demographic group, "Twixters" was formed, based on these beliefs/effects. Twixters are 22-30 year olds who have a college degree, are from middle class families, and live in cities. They live with their parents or roommates, are not married, and work dead-end jobs, because they aren't really ready to live "adult" lives. They are still stuck in college mode. <br /><br />This section of the book also talked about students testing scores being lower the last several years. It said that these students, according to a survey, mostly plan to attend college, but most of them do not have the math/reading skills to succeed in these goals. Apparently, according to the author, teachers telling them to follow their dreams and be all that they can be, has caused them to all want to graduate college but not given them the skills to accomplish this task. <br /><br />In my opinion, the author is very pessimistic. Who thinks that kids in general shouldn't follow their dreams because they are not smart enough? And I also think that he is afraid of this generation because it is different than the old way. But he is forgetting that different can be good. Of course students today don't look to Wuthering Heights for help with their love life, but instead ask their friends. Isn't that how it should be?Hillary Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18272526710207235349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-82486074860610850572010-12-06T20:59:00.000-08:002010-12-06T21:00:26.955-08:00The Dumbest Generation Blabberize<a href="http://blabberize.com/view/id/342583">http://blabberize.com/view/id/342583</a>Ethan Dschaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07596127740476142110noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-59512250726624574912010-12-04T10:50:00.000-08:002010-12-04T10:53:14.380-08:00Schwab's Animoto<object id="vp1uxX0d" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1291488266&f=uxX0d32ktN0ptOJNrNid4A&d=34&m=b&r=w&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1uxX0d" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1291488266&f=uxX0d32ktN0ptOJNrNid4A&d=34&m=b&r=w&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object><p>Create your own <a href="http://animoto.com">video slideshow</a> at animoto.com.</p>Geryl Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13401885590187163957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-49968494881106086382010-11-28T19:52:00.000-08:002010-11-28T19:57:52.564-08:00Carolyn's Voki<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/voki_embed_functions.php"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">AC_Voki_Embed(200,267,"a404aa6f916e5230c66e3307de8c0ec3",3112951, 1, "", 0);</script><BR><a href="http://www.voki.com/"><b>Get a Voki now!</b></a><BR><BR>Carolyn Schuldieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10881995534940591269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-45237395719756222092010-11-24T20:48:00.000-08:002010-11-24T20:48:18.495-08:00<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/voki_embed_functions.php"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">AC_Voki_Embed(300, 400, '819c8cf613f6a14e7625fc5db50e6678', 3095622, 1,'', 0);</script>Jonette Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142795587759152702noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-7682126674633646702010-11-23T12:45:00.000-08:002010-11-23T12:46:15.208-08:00<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/voki_embed_functions.php"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">AC_Voki_Embed(300, 400, '782e02c64ef9c8b2e1902b51ce3c38f4', 3093890, 1,'', 0);</script>Geryl Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13401885590187163957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-67901600394266525572010-11-21T22:08:00.000-08:002010-11-21T22:09:00.279-08:00<object classid='clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000' codebase='http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0' width='255' height='258' id='Blabberize.com_Player' align='middle'><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='sameDomain' /><param name='movie' value='http://blabberize.com/swf/blabberembedp.swf' /><param name='quality' value='high' /><param name='scale' value='noscale' /><param name='salign' value='lt' /><param name='bgcolor' value='#ccffff' /><param name='FlashVars' value='id=333501' /><embed width='255' height='258' src='http://blabberize.com/swf/blabberembedp.swf' FlashVars='id=333501' quality='high' scale='noscale' salign='lt' bgcolor='#ccffff' name='Blabberize.com_Player' align='middle' allowScriptAccess='sameDomain' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' /></embed></object>Hillary Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18272526710207235349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-36798944634950924752010-11-18T06:52:00.000-08:002010-11-18T06:54:16.842-08:00Post for Ch. 3Sorry this is being posted so late. Just got signed into my blog again yesterday. I now have a New Post tab. Yay!!!!<br /><br />Section 3 Super Summary<br />Dear Group,<br />I was really struggling with how to approach this week’s summary and decided I CAN write a letter. Therefore, here goes; my summary in letter form. <br />I was pretty frustrated throughout the reading of this section, and this book, for the most part. The author would like the readers to believe we are in the midst of observing the Dumbest Generation progressing into the future because of the vastness of the emergence of technology. I do believe there is a point and time in which all of us should choose between technology and the “in your hand” book. There is also a lot to be said about too much of a good thing. As an educator with an English class, I see, all too often, the student who can communicate a point in writing using the “text” jargon but does not see what is wrong with using “u” instead of “you” or “BTW” instead of “by the way”. They are also losing sight of proper grammar.<br />With this said, I still contend screen time is not necessarily making our upcoming generation “dumber”. I tend to agree with Lev Grossman of Time magazine when he states, “The new Web is a very different thing. It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it’s really a revolution.” I feel the accessibility and availability of technology for our young people is empowering them to share their ideas and gives them an opportunity to hear from thousands of others all over the world instead of just within the walls of their school or classroom.<br />Another thought I had while reading this section and thinking about what I wanted to share; I grew up and learned without the technology that is available today. Now, as a teacher, I am sharing the information I absorbed and memorized with my students while allowing them to take advantage of the ease of research and investigation using the vast array of technology that makes learning fun and interesting.<br />Sincerely,<br />CarolynCarolyn Schuldieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10881995534940591269noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-21506178263858122942010-11-17T08:41:00.000-08:002010-11-17T10:05:19.931-08:00Carolyn's Book Cover<a href="http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/84463/projects/148416/844631227046977.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 600px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 784px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/84463/projects/148416/844631227046977.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/84463/projects/148416/844631227046977.jpg">http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/84463/projects/148416/844631227046977.jpg</a></div><br /><div></div>I picked this picture because it portrays how I see today’s teenagers when they are trying to make sense of the world’s academic requirements.<br /><div></div>Carolyn Schuldieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10881995534940591269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-60324980564215653582010-11-14T17:42:00.000-08:002010-11-14T17:46:37.714-08:00Schwab's Summary of Chapter FourChapter Four: Online Learning and Non-Learning (pgs 111-162)<br /><br />The author starts this chapter by looking at the findings of the Educational Testing Service, the company that brings us the SAT. They had high school and college students take a survey on their “digital research skills” and found that although these students could play games and enjoy all of the social networks that are available, they cannot manage the digital information available. They called this missing ability, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) literacy. As Irvin Katz, a senior scientist at ETS explains, “While college-age students can use technology, they don’t necessarily know what to do with the content the technology provides.” <br />Mark Bauerlein continues, citing several more studies about how students can definitely use the digital tools, but “On the first large tests of the aptitude, however, they failed. It seems that the judgment of Web content involves mental faculties different from the faculties cultivated by standard Web consumptions by young Americans.” What are these “Web consumptions”? They are MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and all of the games that teens and young adults flock to.<br />These studies notwithstanding, public schools across the nation have put screens in more and more classrooms since 1996 when President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act that has funded technology programs by using taxes on our phone bills. I can remember when our school received computers in every classroom—we called them Janklow computers and they were installed by cheap labor from DOC inmates! The computers were too few to make a difference (five in a classroom of 25-30 students) but we had access and could rotate students if we watched the clock. <br />But, as the book continues, access to computers did not raise our students’ math and reading skills. The educational games they played on the computers were fun, but students showed “little to no achievement gains…..students who were involved in them (digital initiatives) didn’t perform any better than students who weren’t.” In fact, two researchers from the University of Munich that analyzed the 2000 Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) [see chapter one for information about this test], concluded “Once other features of student, family and school background are held constant, computer availability at home shows a strong statistically negative relationship to math and reading performance, and computer availability at school is unrelated to performance.” But yet we continue to spend huge amounts of our school budgets on updating our digital tools.<br />So what exactly is going on that is causing our scores to plummet? Well, the obvious is that students are spending too much time online connecting with their peers that they just spent the entire day with at school. This is time taken away from doing their homework, because it is just ‘too borrring’ and catching up on the latest gossip or teen trends or playing quick paced games is much more fun. AOL even has a page titled “Look at Pretty Pictures” with the subtitle “Because it’s better than homework.”<br />Another cited reason for poor scores is the difference in word inventories and the change in the reading ability of students. A low-reading, high-viewing childhood can make a difference in word inventories of several thousand words by the time a child reaches kindergarten. This gap never becomes smaller and only grows bigger as the child continues their academic career. This affects students’ verbal skills and their ability to be competitive academically and then later, professionally. But what interested me the most was the latter reason: the change in how students read when they are online. A consulting firm, Nielsen Norman Group, in California researched the Web reading and screen habits of teens and young adults. As the book states: “Nielsen has no stake in grand pronouncements about the Digital Age, and no speculations about “new literacies” or “digital natives” or “learning styles” surface in his reports. Instead, he bestows concrete, evidence-based recommendations regarding site design…He consults a more mundane factor, the habits and reactions of regular users in their routine usage.” I quote so that you realize that this researcher does not have any bias or reason to make conclusions that would seem a stretch to someone in an opposing camp. Nielsen found that whatever students are doing while they are online, it definitely isn’t reading as we know it with books. It is more skimming and scanning and jumping to another page if they don’t find anything of interest. He even came up with a name for that type of reading in his April 2006 study:”F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content”. The readers eyes will track all the way across the first line or title but will soon be only looking at the far left side of the page, slowing in the middle (to form the second part of the capital F) and quickly falling down to the bottom of the page. As you can imagine, reading comprehension falls just as quickly.<br />At the end of the chapter, Mr. Bauerlein lays the blame of students’ academic demise on three separate groups. Students because, “They don’t realize that success in popular online youthworlds breeds incompetence in school and in the workplace.” Parents, “because it (technology) eases the demands of parenting, but they might be a little less inclined to do so if they weren’t led to believe in the intellectual benefits of screen time.” An lastly, “Blame, also, the teachers…who will not insist upon the value of knowledge and tradition, who will not judge cultural novelties by the high standards set by the best of the past, who will not stand up to adolescence and announce, “It is time to put away childish things.” Well said.Geryl Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13401885590187163957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-9158921409773348242010-11-06T12:23:00.000-07:002010-11-06T12:23:15.784-07:00Book Cover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwhlk9G34Bh4XwNQ-kH_bg8Uvf6fmjsovo-CGCJrtM2K04gxN1AnpstDKJPfHIc9_SM9sMfijxkzoMABLOzf2sps5zWGB52TemiuqLcy0Db4PgawqgNo4Jo9cmkcWi7P-QapWXQuPQoCs/s1600/Pic+for+Class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwhlk9G34Bh4XwNQ-kH_bg8Uvf6fmjsovo-CGCJrtM2K04gxN1AnpstDKJPfHIc9_SM9sMfijxkzoMABLOzf2sps5zWGB52TemiuqLcy0Db4PgawqgNo4Jo9cmkcWi7P-QapWXQuPQoCs/s1600/Pic+for+Class.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I chose this picture to represent the cover of <u>The Dumbest Generation</u>. I thought it was a very humorous picture and although a pizza couldn't obviously be emailed, it shows how much we rely on technology in our everyday lives. Students today have grown up with technology use at their disposal in pretty much everything they do. Whether you agree or disagree with how students use technology, it is part of our everyday lives and we need to understand and educate ourselves. </span>Jonette Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142795587759152702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-85187239558334620962010-11-03T12:51:00.000-07:002010-11-30T17:16:29.340-08:00The Dumbest Generation: Pages 39-70In Chapter 2 of the book the Dumbest Generation author Mark Bauerlein gives an incredibly negative account of the effects of technology on human society, specifically those in the age category of 18-24 years old. After reviewing the section I am torn on the effects of technology on society. Without question people have greater access to information than ever before. However, Bauerlein points out that societies ability to read has gradually declined since the mid 1980's and the greatest drop occurred between 1992 and 2002. Interestingly, this was the time frame that the internet became a world wide phonomenon.<br /><br />In 2002 the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts was executed to determine the enjoyment people received from the arts and literature. According to the study there was an impressive response rate of 70 percent. Sadly the study found that reading rates fell dramatically from 1982 through 2002 and indicated that people were not reading at the same rate they were twenty years earlier. The survey indicated that 18-24 year olds were the second strongest reading group in the United States in 1982 but now they were the weakest. They survey broke down age groups by the following: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74. The study suggests that the "youthful" 18-24 year old group no longer enjoyed reading like they used to. Considering that this is the youngest group it also suggests that reading for enjoyment is a thing of the past.<br /><br />Bauerlein believes that technology is creating a dumb society because we don't need to know the basics like we used to. As he states in the book, "we can't spell and we don't know synonyms because there's less need to know. What smart person would devote hours to learning words that can be accessed at teh click of a button? Spell check can spell."<br /><br />I believe Bauerlein brings up a good point. Many students in school don't have the basics because they don't need to know the basics. In addition, students would rather surf the net, play video games, or watch television rather than pick up a good book. With so much information society does not have the capacity to take in as much as they did twenty years ago. I agree with Bauerlein that if we would turn off the computers and television sets maybe we would be intellectually further ahead.<br /><br />The greatest issue I have with Bauerlein's message isn't the legitimacy of it, but rather, how he conveys the message. Through the section I felt as though Bauerlein would grate at the reader with his cynicism and negativity. That being said, anyone who disputes all of his points I believe is inaccurate.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4_jk_PadCHuA_5IQ-40rmiml4jG6K60bAPBpwC0sfW1ylp7V55G__O6EvE-y32ZjChnMhm-vLsgHC9C1q9Op9U-ZK5m6FJO8V2mXt6vZfFvKWqPbex0j8Gd3q5RvPhyphenhyphenSCKCwtj4Drj_n/s1600/6thsensekitteh2.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535413762874357602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 244px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4_jk_PadCHuA_5IQ-40rmiml4jG6K60bAPBpwC0sfW1ylp7V55G__O6EvE-y32ZjChnMhm-vLsgHC9C1q9Op9U-ZK5m6FJO8V2mXt6vZfFvKWqPbex0j8Gd3q5RvPhyphenhyphenSCKCwtj4Drj_n/s320/6thsensekitteh2.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iPKJ3fvlTNCZlBcg0Bc1dA">http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iPKJ3fvlTNCZlBcg0Bc1dA</a><br /><br />I think this is a great picture for the book “The Dumbest Generation.” The picture of the cat shows a mind that appears to be completely overwhelmed and blown away by what he is supposed to do. I have often felt the same when dealing with technology. I also think the picture demonstrates a feeling of the world coming down on top of the cat. Again – I can relate!Ethan Dschaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07596127740476142110noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348214214616443611.post-33115590727566236452010-10-31T22:33:00.000-07:002010-10-31T22:37:26.167-07:00New Cover<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFslkLk2T8HX6xKlhBqf9CLt-zhT9UymhDuXXdVr82eFpa9D1KpCeDjiYPtkuRfmXMqlkOsuD9amdUlQlRgo5UK1sQPy3pt4Jtxu3MoLT2yvX4J2wwXyZVirwBmClGC44VLMo3L6H50dj-/s1600/generation_gap.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 215px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534450286309635666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFslkLk2T8HX6xKlhBqf9CLt-zhT9UymhDuXXdVr82eFpa9D1KpCeDjiYPtkuRfmXMqlkOsuD9amdUlQlRgo5UK1sQPy3pt4Jtxu3MoLT2yvX4J2wwXyZVirwBmClGC44VLMo3L6H50dj-/s320/generation_gap.jpg" /></a><br /><div>This is a picture of a "generation gap." I thought that this would be a good cover for "The Dumbest Generation" because the older man is reading while the boy is texting. This shows the difference between what the two generations do to pass time. The book is all about the digital age overtaking the new generation. </div>Hillary Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18272526710207235349noreply@blogger.com0