Rewired?

June 16, 2014

I finally got my book!!! 'Bout time. Sheesh! 

After reading the first two chapters of Rewired, I am a bit disappointed in the content. The author seems to think that teachers 1) live in the dark ages; 2) should become computer gurus over night; and 3) he believes whole heartedly in the ability to multitask and absorb it all. Now, I admit I am a bit behind in the technology department for sure. However, I absolutely disagree with Mr. Rosen's ideologies. First of all, my students do NOT hate coming to school. They may not thoroughly enjoy taking notes in science, but they LOVE the experiments that we do every other day. They may not enjoy math homework (who does?), but when they leave my class, they know exactly how to work through problems and apply them. Yes, it would be ideal if I could just whip up a program that allowed them to interact with others as they do their homework, could get instantaneous feed back from a virtual teacher, and have their work adapted as they go. Unfortunately, the reality is that some of my students, while they may have cell phones, don't have internet access at home. So a whole lot of good that would do.

I also totally disagree with Rosen's opinion that today's students hate to read books. He says it takes up too much of their time and they can only "unitask" while doing it, therefore they aren't able to "stay connected" while reading a book. Excuse me? Every year the MAJORITY of my students prefer to read books. They beg me to give them time in class because after school they have too many activities, ie., soccer, baseball, dance, football, you name it, practice, sometimes two in one afternoon; plus family and church activities, and homework. I have watched my own children and they multitask, but they admit they aren't wholly involved in any of the activities they are engaging in, and know when they need to put the phone away and turn off chat on FB. Plus, they love to read, just for reading sake.

I know that I need to jump on the technology bandwagon and incorporate more into my lessons. But do they need to move at the speed of sound to keep the children entertained? And if I somehow got my hands on a smart board, is it just swapping the "chalkboard" for the computer screen?

I hope that as I get further into this book, things will rectify themselves and I will have more respect for this man's opinions.