Assignment 1: Understanding the Digital Generation

Reading "Understanding the Digital Generation" really made me think about my experiences in school and how much of it was based solely on memorization, preparing for tests, and regurgitating information. A lot of what we learn in school is based on textbooks and class lectures. However, the article suggests that most kids today are visual learners rather than auditory or haptic. That actually makes sense considering how much technology has influenced our lives. You can always find a student who is finding a way to sneak a peek at their phones to send a text or check their Facebook in class while the teacher is talking about something. The material could have the potential to be interesting, but the way it is being taught may make it boring. Students are already being told what to learn, so why not make it appealing to them? Whether we want to except it or not, technology is a big part of our lives and it is only becoming bigger. Teachers should definitely begin to incorporate some form of technology into their classrooms to make the learning process more interesting and fun for their students. The article states that adding picture content to the material that students are learning helps them remember more of the lessons. If that is the case, lessons should begin to incorporate visual media to help facilitate the learning process. That would help students not only do better on tests but also remember the information after having to memorize it for a test.

I am an auditory learner so I like to listen to class lectures to retain information. However, it also helps to receive information in different ways. As a future English teacher, I am always thinking about ways to improve the classroom. I remember in high school that most of the English classes I took were lectures where the teacher would read a passage from the book and then help us interpret the text. Sometimes we would watch a movie to help us fully understand the text, but there are other ways to help students learn. Taking advantage of all of the technology available to us would help the new generation of learners to have a better grasp on the information that they have to learn. I think it is important to recognize the dynamic environment that kids are growing up in and the need to adapt to these changes within the eduction system. Otherwise, students will continue to become uninterested in the material being taught to them. I know that not all of the students in my class will be interested in reading some of the books that I will teach, but I hope to create fun lessons to help them find something interesting in the material possibly through the use of technology such as visual media. I am definitely open to the use of technology in my classroom and creating innovative ways to teach students rather than sticking to the usual lecture style.