Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/7398
–Michael McGowan, high school ❙ “Books take too long. You go to a computer and you can fi nd it right away.” LEFT: Alec Mackenzie, a member of the Hillsborough Teachers Association, with student Pari Hemmat. BELOW: Daniel Wat ts, teaching a computer graphic ar ts class for at- risk youth at Elinor Lincoln Hickey Junior and Senior High School in Sacramento. them an assignment to do in class, and they will say ‘I don’t get it’ or ‘I need you to help me’ instead of trying to figure out how to get it done.” “They need you to walk them through says Mendoza, a member of the Hueneme Education Association. Via Web-based lessons, students in Mendoza’s yearbook class are able to work from anywhere. “They work on computers, and some will potentially be able to work from their Internet-mult imedia-enabled smart phones,” says Mendoza. “Many students have the latest technology. Sometimes their applications at home are newer than what the school has.” But not all students have access to tech- nology at home, and those who don’t are at a disadvantage. “To make things equal, we provide as many resources as we can at the school site along with lessons in how to use the technology,” says Mendoza. “We also guide them to local libraries where they will have access to computers during other times.” Too much information Some educators think that the majority of students who are fed a constant stream of electronic information are easily over- whelmed by TMI (too much information), which can be difficult for youngsters to filter — and make it difficult to make a decision. “This generation is less independent than previous generations,” says MacKen- zie. “They are more dependent on tech- nology to do things for them. I may give 12 California Educator | FEBRUARY 2010 the process quite a few times,” says Watts, a member of the Sacramento County Of- fice of Education Teachers Association. “You can’t just tell them to look at some- thing, figure it out and expect them to complete the project.” Because this generation has so much digital information at their fingertips, many tend to remain indoors connecting with one another digitally. With one-third of American children overweight and one- fifth obese, studies show that a lack of in- terest in the outdoors and physical activity leads to health problems in adulthood. Kennedy recalls that she and fellow teachers were recently telling students about bones they broke as children while climbing and playing. None of the students could recall ever breaking a bone because, for the most part, they seldom engage in outdoor activity, says the Sacramento City Teachers Association member. “They may be very hands-on with tech- nology, but they have a sedentary life- style,” says Watts. “In many cases you can’t get these kids to play outside because they want to play video games, watch TV and be on computers.” “To put it simply, these children have grown up in an environment where tech- nology is everywhere and much of it is invisible,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at CSU Dominguez Hills who teaches a class called Global Impact of Technology. “Most children and adolescents have grown up with the largest storehouse of information in history — the Internet. They use it for a variety of purposes that are beyond the scope of anything imag- ined just a decade ago.”