How is the digital age shaping the way young people grow and act?

Young people, especially students can interact with an inanimate object, the computer, for hours. The several types of software fascinate them. Often they can go on for hours without communicating verbally with anyone. This may and has led to much anti-social behaviour. They do not make an effort to meet up with friends and gradually lose communication skills. They lose listening skills too and all of these are essential tools in learning. While in the pursuit of keeping abreast with technological know-how, we must not lose sight of the essential skills that facilitate learning. It brings to my mind the need to incorporate other language skills as well as ICT when planning teaching and learning activities.
Young people’s fascination with digital tools has led to a culture of materialism. Many of them concern themselves with the latest technological gadget available on the market rather than the purposes the gadgets are meant to serve. We have heard of cases where students have video-taped a teacher’s lesson using their mobile phones for the purpose of highlighting some issue that they are unhappy about the teacher.
A common grouse of teachers is that when students are brought to a computer lab for a lesson, students are more interested in venturing into their favourite websites rather than remaining focused on the lesson. Here definitely monitoring of these students would be difficult.
However, the benefits of ICT far outweigh these limitations. ICT-fused lessons are the way to go in the current education landscape. To maximise the potential to be derived from ICT lessons, the teacher must consider ‘climate’, that is provide a conducive environment for learning. The students must be comfortable with the learning tasks prepared for them. By this i mean that the students have to be equipped with the required skills Also, the interest of the students must be considered. If teachers can select topics that interest the students and show the students that whatever knowledge acquired in the lessons is relevant to their daily lives, the latter will definitely be motivated to participate in the lessons actively.
It is well- known that often students of the Digital Age do not have long concentration span. As such, the teacher should break up the main learning task into smaller digestible tasks to make it more manageable for the learners as well as sustain their interest in the lessons. More interactive learner-centred group activities that require presentation and critical thinking can generate interest in the lessons. When given opportunities to use a (their) favourite tool (the computer) and showcase their knowledge and defend their views, students, learning can be maximized.


Christina

Raintree

Hi, I am Christina from 2008 Jan MAE 812ICT course. I teach English to tertiary level students.