Wednesday, February 13, 2008 8:08 PM
by
jtspencer
can I reach the iGeneration?
In our English Language Development class (a thirty minute mandated period where I am supposed to offer scripted, factory-direct instruction) I posed the question, "Why don't kids read?" Students discussed the difficulty of reading text that has been too watered down or too difficult, too long or too short and what happens when it feels irrelevant to their lives. They mentioned what it feels like when their mind wanders and they have to re-read a small section repeatedly.
When we are finished, we condense a fluid, meandering conversation into a list of seven reasons:
1. The reading is boring
2. It doesn't relate to my life
3. It is too easy
4. The sentences that are too complex and the vocabulary is too difficult to understand
5. Painful memories of past paper cuts and other dumbass excuses for laziness
6. I can't visualize it
7. I remember and then forget
Some of these seemed to suggest the problem is in skills. We compared it to the difficulty of running at first and what happens when a person builds endurance. Many of these examples suggest the bigger issue is motivation - whether it is in excitement or in relating reading to life. As one student pointed out, "Even if it is the AIMS, I can't pay attention to an essay about how a pencil sharpener works and then answer the questions and then have to match my answers to their answers on a list from a through e."
Yet, I wonder if the bigger issue is the shift from a print to an image/video/digital culture. One modality, whether it is a picture, a text or audio seems sparse in a multimedia culture. They all mentioned why Harry Potter is so different - how it's interesting and relates to life and how the writer uses vivid imagery. Yet, they are a generation of kids who grew up watching the movies before reading the book.
I confess that I am a part of this digital culture. I love books, but I just spent longer than I needed to spend changing the look and feel of my blog. I have spent too much time watching Frank Caliendo do impressions of John Madden and George W. Bush.
What I can't figure out is what this means for teaching. To what extent do I utilize technology and integrate technology into my subject? Can multimedia technology blend with books or does it simply ruin it? How do I reach the multimedia culture without conforming to it?