Digital for All the Wrong Reasons

Just returned from BookExpo in NYC. The push was for --you know what--digital books.  Wow! It’s about time. In 1995 when we introduced our first digital version of New Perspectives on Computer Concepts, I remember one editor stating with conviction: “Students don’t want to read books on screen.” If that characterization ever was true, it certainly has changed and now students are obsessed with their screens.

But what, exactly, are student expectations about digital textbooks? Why do students want them? The answer comes clear in the context of all the free information that is available online. To students, online means free, or at least really cheap. They’d rather a cheap textbook than a good one, or so it seems. Although they live in a society powered by information, students do not put much value in it. What’s up with that?

In DBTS (Days Before the Screen), information required work. You had to find it in a library, by phone, in a bookstore, or by word of mouth. You often had to record it (write it down) or remember it so that you didn’t have to find it again. Obtaining information required work, and that effort, I think, made the information acquired worth something. 

In today’s wired world, getting information requires little effort other than a quick Google search or Wikipedia query. And there is no reason to record or remember information if you know it can be located again with another simple search.

We, as teachers, are dealing with a different learning mindset produced by this brave new digital reality. When students don’t value information, not only do they want free textbooks, they also don’t see value in obtaining information through the learning process. Why learn the history of the American Revolution when you can query Wikipedia for an excellent synopsis? Why memorize the definition of SSD when you can Google it?

Educators faced an analogous problem when inexpensive digital calculators became widespread. “Should we allow students to use these calculators?” they asked. Then, because the answer was “yes,” some educators and many students jumped to the logical conclusion that it was no longer necessary to learn how to do mental arithmetic or memorize multiplication tables. And know what? It works--at least when there is a cash register, calculator, or smartphone at hand. 

It works, but at what cost? As an example, suppose you check out at WalMart and hand the clerk a $50 bill for your  $42.90 purchase. The register tells the clerk give this customer back $7.10. And so, with out any thought, the clerk does so. The job of cashier, which once required some skill, now requires very little expertise. It is easy to replace those cashiers with self-checkout machines. Cashiers become free to pursue more challenging jobs or join the unemployment lines.

So back to our students. Does it matter that in our brave new online world, we can’t get facts to “stick?” Can we allow students to complete their education without having a body of knowledge in their brains as long as they can access all the Internet’s knowledge with their fingers? 

I’m going to say “no” because I believe that humans need to internalize a body of knowledge in order to make decisions relevant to their lives and to develop valid opinions on the critical issues of our time.

As educators, we have to figure out how to convey this idea to students. Part of our mission is to identify that core of information; the other part of our job is to engage students in activities that demonstrate the sort of multidisciplinary mashup they can produce given a functional core of information. 

We’ve got to get beyond keystrokes here; in the big picture of things, the steps for creating mail merge or a pivot table are surface knowledge. What are the underlying concepts about technology that educated people need to know in order to make informed choices in our digital world? 

Think about that. More anon.

BEA First Impressions

Attendees were cuing up for free mimosa this morning at the Italian pavilion.  

The big booths tend to overshadow some interesting smaller gems. You can't miss the convict, Gary Goldstein handing out flyers for his book Jew in Jail.  Also notable indies: Sharon Cramer and her Cougar Cub tales, beautifully illustrated; check out the prints of her watercolors at her booth. Taylor Dye and startup Exalt Press specializing in military books. And David Keefe with an odd little gadget called ReMarkable; an etch-a-sketch cum bookmark.

Most colorful exhibit: Galaxy Press featuring early works of author L. Ron Hubbard. Weren't the Battleship books more than enough? 

Authors in the Digital Space

The 1997 edition of my textbook, New Perspectives on Computer concepts, included a fully digital version. Students could read the entire text on their computer screens, take interactive quizzes, work with simulations of application software, and do lots of other cool stuff.

Now, fifteen years later, the rest of the publishing world has jumped on the digital book bandwagon. Authors working with most publishers can now go digital, but there is price; filling out cumbersome grids so that a production team in India can put together all your digital assets.

I've been working with BookOnPublish software that allows me to easily DIM (do it myself), just by mousing over my manuscript to create hotlinks to videos and Flash animations and dropping in quiz questions. It gives me complete control and I can see what works pedagogically right away. Check out this cool tool at www.bookonpublish.com.

Learning is fun-NOT!

I'll keep this short. Should learning be fun? I think we might be wrong to chase that notion. "Fun" is not the right word; it conjures images of arcade games and carnival rides. Take a few moments to write down some words that you associate with learning. How do you go about learning new things? What motivates you to learn? Examine your feelings about learning.

Why is this concept important to teachers?  If you can describe learning, then you have taken a big step toward arming yourself with tools that you can use to motivate your students. Hey, we're not all that different, no matter what you've been told about millennials.

I'll warn you that it is not easy to examine your personal learning process and express it in words, but I guarantee that you'll be surprised at the insights you gain!

Are today's students hunt-and-peck learners?

Think about this: Once upon a time, rote learning was the norm. Students memorized state capitals, the periodic table, classic poetry, and lots of dates.

That style of learning fell out of favor about the time the Beatles arrived in America and was replaced by constructivism, which encouraged students to focus on process, rather than outcomes. Students were required to come up with the right questions, and in theory the right questions would lead to the right answers.

My daughter brought home an English paper from a college course. The paper received a B, which was a small miracle considering that it was riddled with grammar errors and other elements requiring corrections. Not a single error was marked, however, so I asked why not. "Oh," my daughter replied,"we just write for creativity. Our instructor doesn't want to discourage us by marking things wrong." So constructivism was not perfect, especially when the focus on process meant never mind the results.

Today, rote learning and constructivism have been relegated to the scrap heap by technology. Students do not need to memorize facts; they can look up facts, figures, and dates in an instant on Google or Wikipedia. Why even bother with process when you can copy and paste an entire thesis from a Web site to your term paper, then use a Thesaurus to replace a few words with synonyms to "make it your own." It is what I call hunt-and-peck learning.

Is it surprising, given this environment, that students don't seem to know anything? They don't get much practice in making things "stick" in their brains. When they know that a fact can be found online, why bother to remember it?

But, facts are (or should be) the basis for forming opinions and making decisions. Without facts at hand, what goes on up there in those young adult minds? How can we expect them to think critically or creatively?

I'm not suggesting that we go back to constructivism or even rote learning, but I think educators should carefully consider whether or not we should proceed down this road.

Students used to gather at bars to socialize.

Today, students spend time socializing on Facebook. Okay, so what? Well, a growing number of educators seem to be seeking ways to use Facebook as a tool for teaching and learning. In the old days, when students hung out at bars, educators didn't look for ways to bring classes to the local pub; they didn't call for drinks and peanuts to be served in classrooms. How much sense does it make to use Facebook as the platform for modern education?
Yes, students are familiar with it. Yes, they use it frequently, but do they really want to mix their social lives with their coursework? Fire your missiles my way; convince me that we are not pandering to our students when we try to make learning fit into a social milieu that consists of  fun, but vapid posts.