"The Dumbest Generation"-What do you think?

So, it's Wednesday night- after class- so what you will be getting in this post is awesome information from class. This is interesting stuff for anybody, not just teachers- so check it out.

We learned about this guy who wrote a book called The Dumbest Generation:  How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)


Funny, huh? Very interesting stuff. Here's a review/summary:

It’s an irony so commonplace it’s become almost trite: despite the information superhighway, despite a world of knowledge at their fingertips, the younger generation today is less informed, less literate, and more self-absorbed than any that has preceded it. But why? According to the author, an English professor at Emory University, there are plenty of reasons. The immediacy and intimacy of social-networking sites have focused young people’s Internet use on themselves and their friends. The material they’re studying in school (such as the Civil War or The Great Gatsby) seems boring because it isn’t happening right this second and isn’t about them. They’re using the Internet not as a learning tool but as a communications tool: instant messaging, e-mail, chat, blogs. And the language of Internet communication, with its peculiar spelling, grammar, and punctuation, actually encourages illiteracy by making it socially acceptable. It wouldn’t be going too far to call this book the Why Johnny Can’t Read for the digital age. Some will disagree vehemently; others will nod sagely, muttering that they knew it all along. --David Pitt

What do you think about this issue?

Below are some awesome videos- one's funny and the other is just fascinating (both about technology). Click away!

SNL Skit: Thanks Technology

Did You Know 4.0

Oh and PS: Updated classroom pics to come! :) I will be in there tomorrow working but WARNING.. it is not even CLOSE to being done.

PSS: Craft to come: got this great idea from a friend- NAPKIN pillow cases! I will be hittin' up World Market and hopefully making one of these suckers before school starts.