A New Learning Landscape

Robot-7I got raked over the coals pretty good yesterday.  There was lots of disagreement in comments over where IQ comes from,  the purpose of education, my choice of sources, and more.  It’s what I hope to see — civil, constructive conversation.

But my reason for sharing the WIRED article seems to have been missed.  It wasn’t the first time.  You see, I grew up in simpler times ;-).  Well, with respect to machines, it was a simpler time.  Most machines were designed to do one thing.  Our car carried us from one place to the next with reasonable comfort (by 1950s standards).  My watch displayed the current time.  Our TV displayed programming from four TV stations.  These devices had buttons, knobs, and switches, each intended for one function.  They turned things on and off, controlled the volume, or tuned in the stations.  You read the dial or label and pushed or turned.

Then came digital watches.  They could do ten things — but there were only three buttons to do them with.  Then VCRs, that could do a hundred things — but there were only ten buttons to do them with.  An I am completely at a loss as to how my son controls his mildly alien looking character in World of Warcraft, interacting within an enormous and enormously rich virtual world, with his mouse and keyboard.

I grew up with machines that were designed to do one thing.  Today, our machines are so much more.  I seriously struggle with my mobile phone.  I may be using 5% of its capability.  But I imagine that if I gave my daughter fifteen minutes with the phone, should could show me another 25% of its features, if not more. 

My children have grown up in a world of machines that you literally have to reason your way into — and what I believe, is that this has made them smarter than me in some ways that I think will be valuable to them and their future. 

I also believe that this is something that we should be trying to understand, and there are certainly those who are.  But I also believe that this is a conversation we need to be having, not just at conferences, but also in teachers’ lounges and PTA meetings.  It isn’t just entertainment.

Image Citations:
Robotgirl, “Robot-7.” Robotgirl’s Photostream. 7 Aug 2004. 21 Dec 2006 <http://flickr.com/photos/robotgirl/162169/>.
Hsu, Jonathan. “WoWScrnShot_032606-171649.” Jonathan Hsu’s Photostream. 26 Mar 2006. 21 Dec 2006 <http://flickr.com/photos/jonathanyhsu/118484287/>.



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7 thoughts on “A New Learning Landscape”

  1. David,

    We must have grown up in somewhat similar times, and I also find the newer technology fascinating and sometimes daunting. However, I’m still very interested in the entire scenario of change that is occurring.

    I read the MIT Technology Review Newsletter and found an article in today’s issue (December 21st) to throw into yesterday’s conversation. It is entitled “Literacy and Text Messaging: How Will the Next Generation Read and Write?” by Kate Baggott. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you and your readers to do so.

  2. David,

    I grew in the 70s and 80s and our family was slow to adapt new technology. We were among the last people that I knew to get a VCR and nobody in our house owned a computer until I bought one in the final days of finishing up my first degree. At the time, it drove me absolutely crazy that we didn’t have the latest gadgets and gizmos. I view things differently now. I was so frustrated when I went to buy a cell phone. I didn’t want a camera. I didn’t want GPS tracking. I wanted a telephone which I could use to make calls and receive them.

    Yes, the tools are doing more today, but the tools of your generation were different than the tools of mine. And the tools of the next generation will be different than the tools of today. I believe that we should be doing our best to educate people not in how to use the tools, but in how to adapt to the ongoing change.

  3. Dave,

    I believe that you have a very different argument than yesterday

    Yesterday you posited about general intelligence. You wrote:

    “I wonder if we might see, in the next few years, another acceleration of general intelligence, as people who have grown up on hypertext and massively complex game worlds start taking adult IQ tests.”

    Today, you are talking about a specific type of intelligence and/or subset of skills. You wrote:

    “My children have grown up in a world of machines that you literally have to reason your way into — and what I believe, is that this has made them smarter than me in some ways that I think will be valuable to them and their future.
    I also believe that this is something that we should be trying to understand, and there are certainly those who are. But I also believe that this is a conversation we need to be having, not just at conferences, but also in teachers’ lounges and PTA meetings. It isn’t just entertainment.”

    In the psychology field there is a big difference. One of my degrees is in psychology. Therefore, this topic is of particular interest to me. In addition, I am a special ed/gifted ed teacher so I’ve taught children with a wide range of abilities. I’m not trying t be nit-picky….just very interested in the topic and concerned that misinformation will get out there to teachers.

    Let’s face it Dave, you influence many teachers and many of our school districts pay school board money to see your keynotes…which affect the way our school leaders decide on policy.

    This morning you wrote:

    “Don’t worry! I do not blog because I think I am always write, or because I am necessarily an expert in everything that I write about, and I do not always practice high journalist standards. I blog because I learn. I learn from people who agree with me, and I learn from people who do not. If it was all said in my blog, then there wouldn’t be the helpful and civil discussions that happened here yesterday. I blog to start conversations.”

    Yes, I admire that you blog to start conversations, and you do start very good conversations and we all learn and grow together. However, I wonder if you know the impact of your words…and that they are sometimes considered as *truth* because you are considered an expert by many teachers and school districts, regardless of journalist standards. Your ideologies are often propagated which affect teacher’s paradigms, which affect public school children. Please consider that.

    Kind Regards,
    Mechelle

  4. I just got back from holiday shopping with family and noticed this in my e-mail. Dave replied and asked me to post the following reply:

    Mechelle,

    Unfortunately, cable internet is down for most of Raleigh. So I’m not
    able post another comment on my blog. I was wondering if you might
    post this thumb-typed comment for me.

    First of all, I do not really think that I was making a different
    argument today. Yesterday, I was merely passing on an article from
    WIRED Magazine that had gotten me to thinking about video games and
    learning. I tried hard to avoid calling that learning anything
    specific today. I simply want to continue this conversation about the
    information experience our children are having and what it means to
    their future skills.

    As for how I represent myself? I know how many people read this blog
    and attend my presentations, and I try hard to always be absolutely
    honest about where I come from. It’s one reason why I try to make my
    writing style so casual.

    When I first started to blog in 2003, I thought that my job was to be
    an expert. But as I started to spend more time reading other people’s
    blogs, and to understand more about them, I realized that the ones
    that were most useful were the bloggers who didn’t blog out of their
    own heads, but out of the heads of others, tossing ideas out and
    engaging in conversations. That’s what I wanted my blog to be.
    Sometimes it’s succesful, sometimes it is not. I know that I’ve
    learned a lot.

    I do believe that this is important, because in a time of rapid
    change, answers to brand new questions are frequently going to come
    from conversations, not experts.

    Well there is probably more to say, but my thumbs are starting to spasm.

    Thanks for continuing the conversation…

  5. A couple of people have emailed me and asked me whether or not I will continue the conversation. Unfortunately, I don’t have the energy to invest in the conversation…especially with the holidays. There are so many points that I could address. I teach special education at an urban Title 1 public school, and it is very clear that we have very differing experiences and paradigms regarding education. Therefore, I’ll just listen and take notes…perhaps to carry on the conversation at another time.

    Kind Regards,
    Mechelle

  6. It is an important conversation, Mechelle. We are all struggling with the skills and intelligences that our children will need for a future that we can hardly describe now, and would have been completely alien to the time that I was young. Your perspective is valuable not only because of your background in psychology, but also your work in special ed. I look forward to any future contributions you can add to this conversation!

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