NY Times: Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html


Two interesting quotes from this article expressing parent and teacher concerns that the new generation of students may have difficulty concentrating on a long text or task at hand...

Quote by high school student:

“I’m doing Facebook, YouTube, having a conversation or two with a friend, listening to music at the same time. I’m doing a million things at once, like a lot of people my age,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll say: I need to stop this and do my schoolwork, but I can’t.” “If it weren’t for the Internet, I’d focus more on school and be doing better academically,” he says. But thanks to the Internet, he says, he has discovered and pursued his passion: filmmaking. Without the Internet, “I also wouldn’t know what I want to do with my life.”

With my own 7-year-old son rapidly becoming an online game maniac addict (with every moment he can get on our home computer-scary), I want to know the line between "too much networking" and "just right to pick up the digital skills needed to be a successful professional" in the next 20 years. It sounds like this student is finding his calling in film-making...Will my son find a fulfilling career and human relationships by becoming constantly networked like it seems that many people will be in the near future.

As a parent, what boundaries can and should I set? Right now we are trying to restrict computer time and are refusing to buy Playstation and other games...how long can we hold out?

According to Tony Wagner, the Harvard-based education expert and author of “The Global Achievement Gap,”

There are three basic skills that students need if they want to thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking and problem-solving; the ability to communicate effectively; and the ability to collaborate."

The list of 3 key skills is good for self-analysis of our program at ICU:
-critical thinking/problem solving
-effective communication
-effective collaboration

Are these really the most important?
Are we really helping students develop competence in these skills?
I think we might be weakest in the area of collaboration...students collaborate on a variety of projects and gain experience to some extent, but we do not "teach" how to be good collaborators. That may be an area to improve in.