Reading this list from Beloit College reminded me of how much life has changed in the last two decades and the implications it has for how we communicate with this new generation of students. Just recently when I was listening to NPR in the car with my teenager, there was a story that featured the sound of AOL dial-up. To my amazement, he was not familiar with this sound at all! Thus the concept of waiting to get on-line is a foreign concept. To extend that further, the concept of the waiting period, is a foreign concept for many teens.
When things happen at such a rapid pace these days, it has implications for learning that I find fascinating and worrisome at the same time. A big question for teaching and learning includes “How should we communicate with teens so that they will stay engaged in the classroom?” For some students who thrive on over-stimulation, “Does it still make sense for classrooms to be structured so rigidly with a teacher at the head and desks facing the teacher?” Even when I visit college campuses today, this is the model for many of the classrooms.
Given that this is the “Mindset” for entering Freshmen . . .
1 There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.
. . .
23 There has never been an official Communist Party in Russia.
24 “Yadda, yadda, yadda” has always come in handy to make long stories short.
25 Video games have always had ratings.
26 Chicken soup has always been soul food.
27 The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been available on TV.
. . .
29 Arnold Palmer has always been a drink.
30 Dial-up is soooooooooo last century!
. . .
37 Music has always been available via free downloads.
. ..
40 Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could also serve as a doorstop.
. . .
44 They’re the first generation to grow up hearing about the dangerous overuse of antibiotics.
. . .
47 No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King Day.
48 While they’ve been playing outside, their parents have always worried about nasty new bugs borne by birds and mosquitoes.
49 Public schools have always made space available for advertising.
. . .
53 Charter schools have always been an alternative.
. . .
57 They’ve often broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
via The Mindset List: 2015 List.
. . . how should teaching and learning change for our students . . . preschool, middle school, high school, and college students?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4HJ6EHb3CI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
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