Sadly, the findings in the "Generation M2" article did not surprise me. I think that most teachers are aware of how much time our students spend doing things other than study. What I found most interesting about the article was that the data reflects media consumption in 2009. In the past two years, the technology used among teenagers has grown. The article does not mention the iPad or Facebook, both of which are wildly popular and have likely increased teenagers' online time wastage. I know that some of my own students do partner and group projects for school all on Facebook now. The rarely talk on their cell phones anymore; they text entire conversations. They have Twitter accounts, iPhones and other devices that can do everything just short of make you a sandwich. It's amazing to me that they can still hold conversations with each other.
The television statistic saddens me. 4 1/2 hours of t.v. per day? What is there worth watching? At the risk of sounding like someone's grandpa, I have to say that the quality of television programming has plummeted in the last ten years. Among my students, the popular t.v. shows are Jersey Shore, Keeping up with the Kardashians and Skins. Yuck.
I was amused at the report that the percentage of those who claim to be bored is generally the same for light, moderate and heavy users of media. It seems to me that feeling bored is just part of being a teenager.
This report may affect my teaching by influencing some of the more creative activities I have my students do. For instance, last year, during the "Personality" unit, I had my juniors and seniors create a poster depicting what would be their dating website profiles. Not having any experience with dating sites, most of them applied what they know about Facebook to create it. They seemed to enjoy the assignment because it was something that they were already interested in and they got to do it in another language. Now knowing what other media interests our students hold (video games, television, etc), I may try to come up with lessons that incorporate Spanish vocabulary and readings on those topics.
I completely agree with your statement about the quality of television programming plummeting. When I observed in Elmwood Park High School this past fall, all the students talked about was Jersey Shore and Keeping up with the kardashian too... YUCK! Sadly, most of the teachers, who are younger, watched the shows too and talked about during the first 10 minutes of class. It's really sad how high school kids watch these shows and think they are "cool" or want to act this way in life. It gives a completely distorted view about reality and what life really is like. Those people get on TV for being stupid and are famous for doing absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteI also like that you point out that feeling bored is just a part of being a teenager, which I agree with. I think what the article was trying to say is that the students who are exposed to more media have a certain expectation of what keeps their attention, and they are usually focusing their attention on more than one thing at a time. When they are required to focus on just one thing, or have to think about what to focus on, it is something they are not used to and they become bored.
I think your way of "integrating technology" in your personality unit is successful because you connect it to an interest that they have, but do it in a way to doesn't need technology.
The really like the personality poster project, and the follow-on comments about why it might be successful make sense (connecting to things they are already interested in, making the learning meaningful). And it doesn't need computer time to do! I think it is important that students know how to do things by hand before they do them on the computer. The computer-based tools make more sense then.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if discussions with students about why they like certain TV shows would be useful. Evidently they connect with some need or want on the part of the students. Maybe it would help them clarify something about themselves.
jd