Book Review #3

After making the remarks I’ve made in my previous two entries, I’m a little bit relieved to see Negroponte’s afterwords. I’ve made repeated references to the “past freshness date” tone of the book, but the author addresses that in the afterwords, acknowledging that the internet, and more specifically, the digital age, means that information and technology will be constantly evolving – that what’s modern and cutting-edge today will be nearly obsolete in just a short time.

But given that so much information is exchanged digitally – in fact, one can make the argument that far more exchange of information takes place in the digital rather than the analog realm – I feel it’s all the more imperative that we as teachers are cognizant of this. At the very least, we should be familiar with the digitization of our culture. And to better serve our students, I feel it’s all the more imperative that we stay abreast of and informed of the digital culture.

I was a middle-schooler just 15 years ago. Yet, in that time, the exchange of information has been completely modernize – and will continue to do so. Where I would read newspapers or watch the evening news, my students can/will log in to foxnews.com, whether it’s on a desktop computer, a wireless-enabled laptop, or an internet-enabled cell phone. Where I would send letters, or pass notes, my students will e-mail, send texts, or “myspace” each other.

So rather than to try and take what I feel is a misguided approach – to avoid it altogether – why not take advantage of something students use and understand? Why not put them in a comfort zone, and let the lessons come to them? So much of what they consume, news, entertainment, and so on, is digitized. Is it really that far-fetched to think their lessons could be digitized as well?