Growing Up Online In a Digital Nation

Last week's assignment was two watch the documentaries Growing Up Online and Digital Nation. Technically (no pun intended), we have to answer eight questions. However, since most of my classmates have already responded, I will write something slightly different for the sake of brevity and originality.

The impression I got from both documentaries is that teachers are giving into their demands for more technology in the classroom at the expense of a dumbed-down curriculum. They no longer feel entitled to their attention. Instead, they accept that they have to compete with Facebook, YouTube, iPhones and other distractions. Most troubling is the popularity of Spark Notes. To be sure, online summaries have their uses, most notably as a way to scaffold instruction for ESL students. Even native English speakers can use them to ensure their comprehension of the main ideas. However, a wealth of vocabulary and grammar knowledge is lost when they don't read the real thing. This is especially true for literature from over a century ago.

I understand the argument that teachers have to prepare their students to live in a digital age, not an industrial one. That is their rationale for their emphasis on group work, multitasking and multimedia instead of spelling, books and research papers. However, most universities still expect traditional academic skills and crack down on what they perceive to be cheating. For working together on "an open note, open book, open Internet exam," many Harvard students and alumni face suspension or revocation of their degrees. Such things happen when there is a disconnect between high school and college curricula and expectations.

Technology is here to stay for better or for worse, so parents and teachers have a civic duty to teach their children how to behave online as well as offline. Besides the obvious danger of child predators, cyber-bullying is a common problem. Young people should be wise enough not to do something on Facebook that they wouldn't do at the mall or at a job fair. Mental health awareness is more important than ever because the Internet is full of articles on how to engage in antisocial behavior like torturing animals and building bombs.

To end on a positive note, the digital revolution has many useful applications for ESL students. They can log onto Second Life to meet English speakers and perform language learning tasks in real time in an authentic environment. Since Wikipedia is available in 285 languages, most ELLs can read build background knowledge by first reading articles in their native languages. Another benefit is that numerous online videos are available with closed captions.