Today, I read this article (http://techdirt.com/articles/20070125/002737.shtml) talking about how “short attention spans, and quick hits rule the day”. And some people blame the Internet. In brief summary, the Internet has made people so familiar with funny thirty-second video clips, flashy webpage intros, and getting anything whenever you want it (immediate gratification), that the long term attention spans are now lacking.
What does this mean for my teaching? Immediately, being of an entrepreneurial mindset so often, I saw this as an opportunity! At first, I though that this meant as teachers that we could/should make some/all portions of our classes available to do in portions, or at the student’s convenience. Imagine a self-directed student course, I though, where you act sort of like a University Professor, giving direction, and each student decides what portion of the class s/he would do at that point. However, that is a little too much freedom for high school at this point in time.
Then, I thought that perhaps having one or two sort of “Independent” assignments, with much choice involved for the student, could really help address this issue and allow students to work at their own pace. Similarly, you could make checkpoints along the way, giving marks to the progress. The purpose of this, obviously, is because procrastination is such a huge problem in our educational world that we have to be aware and even teach skills and give positive reinforcement to those that are using good planning skills and work ethic.
What are some up-sides and down-sides to this lacking of attention spans? This is a question that teachers should answer, and adapt to if they wish to teach at their potential. What holds students’ attention nowadays? Ahh, now we’re heading in the right direction…
I, myself, have a PVR, and I don’t know if I could live without it. I just am not at home every time CSI: Miami is on, and if I miss the continuation to this one episode that I saw last Monday, I will absolutely not be able to continue on in this world.
Dan
1 response so far ↓
1
Labatte
// Jan 27, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Dan I think you have hit the proverbial nail on the noggen. I am very interested in seeing how a class, Parts Management Inventory taught by distance to a noon hour class here at Martin, is going to go. It deals directly with the points you brought up. The class uses Blackboard and Ilink and is interactive with headphones and mic’s. From what I have seen and heard from the instructors, they make every attempt to mimic a video game and use msn lingo. I will attempt to update readers on how this class is accepted by the students and other faculty here at Martin.
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