So, this week for class we read The
App Generation, and as always I am going to pull some of the main points I
thought would be most helpful (for myself) to recognize. By the way, sorry for
the pun in the title of this blog, but it seems appropriate that I would poke
fun at the next generation, when there are so many people from the prior
generation that constantly are putting me down for being a millennial. (well you
all are
ALL lazy and selfish, you don’t work
hard enough to make a living, no wonder you
ALL live at home! You have
everything
handed to you! In my day I walked 100 miles uphill in the snow to go to school!
We had
REAL diseases; in my day there
was no vaccines! When I was
YOUR age, I had a house and 7 kids. ETC.) But I digress.
 |
| No, but really, are we all that different? :Cue the song Why can't we be friends: |
 |
| But, it's all OUR fault. SIGH. |
 |
I had two houses, a wife, two cars, seven kids, no loans, zero debt, and a condo in Florida by the age 30.
Cool, thanks. |
I thought this book was extremely
interesting because I myself am a millennial so I kind of felt like this book
(in some ways) was written about me or my friends. I found myself nodding with
the positives and cringing along with the negatives. Millennials are famous
for: freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaborative, entertainment,
speed, and innovation. These things are not all necessarily a positive. For
example, while we are more used to freedom in the world as a whole- we do not
feel safe, we scrutinize everyone and everything—AKA me in a nutshell. Two of
my best friends do not have their drivers licenses (which is part of the
attributes to identity), which I had never thought about how that was really an
unusual phenomenon! I think that it is really interesting that the author
discusses how the parents have impacted this generation, for better or worse.
I really saw this in our activity
this week when we made the posters about all of these ways to describe digital
natives. I also thought our discourse about the fact that digital immigrants
are no longer an applicable term (for most people) because most of our lives
are so integrated with technology that we are truly all natives. I also liked
when we talked about the differences between identity, intimacy, and
imagination because it was really interesting to see those attributes and flaws
in my own personality. This is also pertinent to my students because we need to
realize their own drawbacks or strengths to teach them better. For instance, the fact that I am teaching my
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students pretty
rigorously about cyber safety and keeping themselves safe online in general is
a testament to how much our world is changing. No one has EVER taught me this,
and I am only roughly 15 years older than my kids I am teaching. So I am
teaching them a topic that has never been taught before this generation. Words
like apps, cyber bullying, personal vs. private information,
upstander/bystander, are now apart of their every day vocabulary (or this is
what I am trying to accomplish!)
This is also where the idea of
‘”the medium is the message” idea comes into play, as well. We need to be
relating to our students with what we are saying, but the medium of our
presentation and activities. That is the most important thing that I took away
from this week. Once again, as Dawn said in class, teachers and students have
the same patterns of technology use but neither uses it as innovatively as we
COULD be, in order for learners (and teachers) to be designers. This is our
ultimate goal, so I found The App Generation to not only give me background of
the way my students will be thinking and their personalities, but the deeper
meaning of how technology has permeated their lives in a deeper way, which we
as educators need to be cognizant of and embrace.
I am feeling baby boomer guilt right now - I hope I don't ever come off as thinking that generations younger than my own have it easier than I did growing up. I think I had it "differently" - as each successive generation does. I think this is part of the point this book makes - that because what is available is different, we as people are going to be different. It all depends on what technology is available to you and for what purpose. And while there are some collective truths that might be stated about a generation (perhaps that younger generations don't have the same sense of security that my generation had at that age), there are also truths that are specific to individuals (as when some people isolate themselves and stick to virtual relationships and others maintain a balance of virtual and face-to-face relationships). In general, I try to avoid blanket statements about groups of people (or anything else) so I agree with the notion we talked about in class that generational characterizations don't always hold true, may be culturally bound, and have a lot to do with the extent to which your online life fosters intimacy and imagination in the rest of your life. The message I got from the book and our discussion was that, once again, mindfulness is important and probably the most effective way to build understanding of how the online world affects one's life, one's relationships, and one's world view as well as to provide insights into why we do what and act the way we do.
ReplyDeleteI can tell that this book and class discussion had a strong impact on you as this is your most in depth and personally tied blog yet. It was very interesting to read. :-) I, myself, am on the cusp of being a millennial, so I relate to some of the characteristics but not all. I also think that this area is particularly hard on the 18-30 age group because everything is so expensive. It is hard to go out on your own when rent for a one bedroom apartment is half of your salary. Factor into that all of the additional comforts that you had growing up that you'd have to do without and it's no wonder that youth are timid about stepping out on their own. Parents wanted to create safe, secure bubbles for their children and they succeeded. But now that bubble has to pop in order for life to move forward. It is a long fall from that bubble, and I can't say I'd be searching too enthusiastically for a pin if I were in there.
ReplyDelete