They’re more social than us
Reflections August 31st, 2007
I hear a lot of comments from concerned adults about the antisocial behaviour of our wired youths. It is claimed that these digital natives have lost the important element of human interaction. It would appear that they would prefer to listen to their iPod or play their PSP rather than socializing with other human beings. They get on the Internet every evening and then spend hours pressing buttons on those irritating mobile phones.
I argue the opposite. The children today are just as social, if not more social, than their preceding generations. When we think they’re wasting time on their mobile phones, they’re usually sending text messages back and forth to friends. When they’re glued to the computer for hours, they’re usually chatting with friends, sending emails and engaging in countless other social networking activities. They’re often having different conversations with different people simultaneously. They’re always in touch and always socializing. These electronic conversations are very real to them and not a poor substitute for face-to-face interaction.
We confuse their engagement with electronic media with antisocial behaviour. We label them as introverts. We say that they’re losing the ability to interact with humans.
Rubbish!
Interacting with humans is mostly what they’re doing with their time. Their network of friends is larger than ours ever was. They’re always in contact with each other, always connected. They collaborate their ideas far more than my generation did. They see all of this new technology as a social platform to share ideas, keep in touch, be creative and work together.
I’ve had to argue the educational benefits of wikis to so many adults who still view education as an individual endeavour. But when I introduced wikis to my students, they took to it immediately. They ran to the computers and began collaborating. They shared their ideas, made improvements upon each other’s work, and produced a well-oiled final product. And they did it together. This is what makes sense to them. They are an extremely social, connected bunch of kids. Like everything else in their “connected” lives, they see education as a social activity.
I think they’re on to something!
September 1st, 2007 at 4:00 am
Yes indeed Andrew – I enjoy reading you blowing that argument out of the water! I work on my own much of the time and have found that quite isolating but social software has made me more…social! And I see the same in my students; often the ones most addicted to IM and Facebook and Myspace are the most socially active in a physical setting too, so there is no correlation between technology and poor human interation – quite the opposite – wired kids are community kids.
Before I became a tech addict, back in 1997, I met an American (on a music theatre tour I was doing in Europe) who was already totally wired and I found it strange that he based his friendships round the internet – I recall thinking that was strange, somehow ‘anti’ social. Yet I got to know his has a most sociable person and I learned a lesson!
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:04 am
I agree that technology is change socializing practices and is likely increasing the amount, but I think that much of it has been at the sacrifice of common courtesy. During a doctor’s appointment my doctor answered his phone and the call was obviously from a friend or family member. Walking down the hall of my university, I frequently find mysel apologizing for saying “Hello,” when I realize they are not talking to me, but to the gadget in their ear. At walk-up counters I am frequently made to wait while the person in front of me talks to the clerk and into his or her phone. It is not simply the young who are demonstrating my concerns. I too am finding single conversations boring and am drawn to my computer screen when I should be giving another person my full attention.
I tend to view change as good, so I do not hold a gilded image of the past. But I believe one change that must occur is a new form of etiquette, techno-etiquette.
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Well, I am glad that I am not the only one rallying on this particular playing field. Even though I am an adult, and part of Generation X, I am also frequently emailing, IMing (from computer or phone!) and texting to my friends.
To take this even further, I also count the interactions I do on blogs and message forums.
Now, I do believe younger generations have learned to be anti-social in the sense of how to communicate in person or face-to-face. But if you compare what they do on the computer and cell phones, I can definitely see it adding up to a lot of socialization!!
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:39 am
Excellent ideas – which I will share at an ‘upcoming’ parent info night! I’m enjoying your ideas and ways that you are engaging students in ICT. I am really looking forward to getting feedback from you on Scratch, as I don’t anyone here who is trying this out. As to your question about ‘training’ – I wouldn’t think about it as ‘how many 1-hour sessions’ – you have your answer in the post above in the way the students took to wiki(ing). Start them off – say half an hour – and let them get started. Then teach/tutor/mentor at points along the way. You will soon have some student experts who can mentor those not as adept as themselves. So long as you have a collaborative environment (and I know you will), then I don’t think you need to set aside hour after hour – rather, set aside time to share and highlight new techniques etc. Good luck – keep all your blog readers informed. Cheers, Judy
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Hello Andrew!
I hope all is well.
Like you, I have had great success with wikis in the classroom. I use wikis for group projects. The wiki allows me to monitor individual and group work. It works well to ensure that the group project is definitely a collaboration. Maureen
September 6th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I teach email etiquette in my classroom. I really like the idea mention by Dr. Clark of techno-etiquette. While Dr. Clark mentioned people talking on the cell phone while walking down the hall, I am even more disturbed when I see a parent walking with children and the parent is on the phone. I wonder if parents talk with their children anymore.