Ok, since I have no idea how to get my original post on my first blog into this beta blog, today will appear to be my first post. I am hoping by next week I will be able to post much more frequently, since by then my iMac will be updated/fixed and I won't have to jump on other computers just to be able to blog! I didn't realize how 'old' and 'outdated' my poor computer was until I came back to school last year and began work on my MAT degreee, finding that many of the class websites and blogs were simply unaccessible from my personal computer. I know this rambling seems pointless, but it actually is serving as a segue into my response to the Alvermann chapter (2) that we read for tonight's class. You see, when I was a child and pre-teen I was not engrossed in a television, computer, or videogame. I spent so much of my free time readingt on my own, and I never felt that I was missing out on something. All of my friends had their sport of choice that they focused on as well (instead of a sport I chose to dance), but today it seems that children/teens play their sport, go to school, and then spend so much more time (where could this time even come from?) immersed in some of the latest technology. I don't know if I am better or worse off (or neither) as a result, but I know that I was not immersed in the dichotomy that so many young people are today; spending several hours a day listening to and watching teachers at school, and then spending several more hours listening to or watching someone or something on a digital screen.
I loved the phrase 'attention economy' that Michael Goldhaber used in response to the 'abundance of information' floating through our world today. Although that phrase may have been designated for a reference to the business world, I am choosing to look at it in terms of its effects on students today. In the same scenario as above, I have noticed in my experiences in the high schools in the past few years that the students are literally being bombarded with information at all times. At some points it is the choice of the students, those who opt to spend hours on the computer after school rather than play sports, but either way I can only imagine how tedious it must be to assimilate so much at once, especially at the elementary or middle school level. Don't get me wrong, I do not favor students playing sports over spending time on the computer/playing video games/watching television, or vice versa. I don't have a preference over any of these, BUT when I read this chapter I thought about how different things were (or seemed) just 15 years ago when I was a child. Even as a graduate student I often feel overwhelmed in this age of technology, where being in this class has really brought to my attention just how much I need to learn about technology! If the students are lucky enough to have their own computer, videogames, iPod, and whatever else I'm missing -- I have to wonder, do they even know how much information is being thrown their way at all times? Or are they that good at the balancing act that I shouldn't be having pity on them in this overwhelming time, but rather congratulating them on their ability to understand and respond to it all? And finally, I wonder if their attention spans are growing or shrinking as a result of this abundance of information?