The ‘millennials’ usher in a new era brings up some interesting points in the education of the next generation.
For their grandparents, the bicycle was a symbol of childhood independence.
Today, for many kids and young adults, it is the Internet. “It consumes my life,” said Andrea Thomas, a senior at Miami University. “If I’m not texting my friends over the cell phone, I have my laptop with me and I’m IM’ing them. Or I’m doing research on Google. Honestly, the only reason any one of my college friends use the library is for group meetings.”
Does this just enhance the shorter attention span, or is it the root of a deeper problem? Teachers will need to learn to adapt to this new type of student, and bring in lesson plans that not only strive to be engaging, but also use different types of media. The teacher who complains about how bad their classroom behaves is the teacher that only uses the textbook and worksheets.
i think children should have limited internet time.
The news programs this week started to carry information re: how to keep your kid safe when they use the Internet. NBC news reports that although most advice on Internet safety recommends that computers be kept in a common room in the home where it is central & easy to observe INSTEAD of in a a child’s bedroom is good advice. However, no one follows it. The web address http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm is the FBI Safety Guide for using the Internet. Communication between parents & their children & computer location are bid factors for safety. As a teacher I find students don’t always know as much as they think they do about the Internet and safety.