Classroom Confidential

I just finished listening to Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw and about midway through the audiobook, when the author revisited the why and how of writing Kitchen Confidential, I realized that I was the Tony Bourdain of education.

Of course, I immediately posted this observation on Facebook to “likes” all around.

Bourdain loves food and travel, possesses a somewhat angry, often snarky personality: the guy in the room in a ripped t-shirt and jeans when everyone else is in well ironed shirts and pressed pants and peppers his conversation with frequent curse words.

If you know me, you get the comparison.

Combine this literary experience with the receipt of an email from a colleague that contained the following:

I attended a conference last summer about rethinking education in the age of technology and the keynote speaker, Ian Jukes, captivated me.  He really challenged educators to analyze the effect “digital bombardment” has on digital kids and to consider the implications this holds for the future of education.

Now, the person who sent this was someone I really admire as a teacher, so I knew she wouldn’t be put off by my immediate, before first coffee of the day response:

Observations like “digital bombardment” make me cranky.  As the parent of 2 millenials, I’ve watched them grow up in the age of the internet.  It’s a significant part of their lives but I’ve yet to meet a millenial overwhelmed by the technology and information available today.  What often confuses & bewilders people my age is seamlessly integrated into the lives of people born into the internet age.  The internet isn’t their enemy as the use of the term “bombard” suggests.  It’s not even their friend, it’s just another part of life for them in the 21st century, often a means to keep in touch with family, friends and the world, but it isn’t an end in itself.  The internet, smartphones, tablets, computers – they are tools, nothing more.

I continued by referring her to my blog post regarding the movie Network, and the propensity for older generations to bemoan how the new new thing makes the current generation shallow, lazy, unproductive, and a disappointment to their parents, bosses, government, and anyone else in a position to judge.  At this point, I realized I had a blog post topic … and wanted to keep this friend so I apologized for my rant, sent the email, and got that much needed cup of coffee.

Channelling my inner Bourdain, I’ve  finally sat down to write that blog post and share how I really feel.  Coincidence struck again a few days ago when a colleague from an educational conference at Montclair asked followers on Google+ about digital natives vs. digital immigrants.  Not sure what you are? Under 30 = digital native, over 30 = digital immigrant.  No cheating, and don’t tell me you’ve been working with computers since the 60s, because I’ll put you in the third category of digital siberia.  Have fun with your punch cards and 64K of RAM.

Digital natives have never known a world without social networking: they began with Neopets, moved on to MySpace, and now spend more time on Facebook than out on the internet (to some it is the internet).  In their world, their parents have always had cell phones, they received their first in middle school (most likely so said parents could keep track of them after school), and now own one of the many flavors of smart phones.  Digital natives talk about music in terms of gigs not albums, and are more likely to find a movie or TV show online to watch than use a remote and flick through the channels.

As for bombardment, dictionary.com provides this definition:

bombardment [v. bom-bahrd, buhm-; n. bom-bahrd]: 1. to attack or batter with artillery fire; 2. to attack with bombs; 3. to assail vigorously; 4. physics - to direct high energy particles or radiations against.

Shouldn’t we be worried about the affect digital bombardment has on digital immigrants rather than their children?  It’s not the millenials overwhelmed by technology, it’s their parents!

I received that email soon after the Jersey Shore experienced Hurricane Irene.  Lots of homes with both digital immigrants and natives lost power, mine included.  Power outages always remind me of my childhood in Pittsburgh; we always lost power in a snow storm, and there are a lot of snow storms in Pittsburgh (at least as I remember).   As I watched how my son and his friends reacted, I wondered: If this generation is so in need of the internet to learn, communicate, etc., why were they so good at entertaining themselves during this long stretch without power? Yes, they missed power although I think it was light after dark more than anything else, but the kids in our neighborhood played marathon board and card game sessions, helped neighbors clear debris, and read actual paper books.  You know, the ones you can read without an iPad or Nook?

Me? By lunchtime, I’d assembled a sketchy car charger out of old car chargers lying around the house because I was too cheap to buy the right one for my phone way back when.  I sat in my car charging my iPhone hoping my down and dirty technology wouldn’t cause it to catch on fire because without a working iPhone, I was getting twitchy.

The next time someone expresses concern about kids being overwhelmed by technology, take a look at the person expressing that thought.  It’s no longer “don’t trust anyone over 30″, it’s “don’t trust anyone over 30 to be comfortable with the amount of technology available today”. If they’re an old tech addict like me, they may get the shakes when you try to take their tech away because technology isn’t native to them.  Like an immigrant learning English, no matter how comfortable we are with technology, we immigrants will never speak tech with the fluency of those natives.

Time to find a keynote speaker that challenges us to examine the impact of technology on the over 30 crowd!