The Analog Generation...

With all this talk of digital generations, digital culture, digital age, etc.... I find myself seeking a phrase to define my generation, culture, or age. I remember as a child having an unquenchable thirst to figure out how things worked. Given any opportunity I would take a watch or clock apart to see how the gears interacted. Of course, there are some of you out there who can't remember that watches used to be wound by hand!!! What this all is leading to is the revelation that I grew up in the analog generation!!!!

Many of us in the classroom belong to the analog generation and teach students of the digital generation and there is undeniably a disconnect. Those of us from the analog generation make sense of our world by taking things apart physically or visualizing the interactions of the components. We were born into an age of radio, television, and land line telephones. We were okay with walkie-talkies and the concept of radio waves passing information through the atmosphere because we still had a nearly physical understanding of wavelengths and energy. But somewhere along the road, technology leaped ahead to a point where we do not have physical explanations for how computers work or how a device that fits in your palm can connect you anytime, anywhere with anyone in the world.

Our students were born to these technologies and embrace it without question. Some of them may have learned their alphabet on a computer keyboard leading to their first experiences with reading and writing.....digitally! But has our teaching and education system adapted to meet the needs of this new generation? If your classroom and curriculum looks much the same as the one you grew up with, then you know it is time for a change. It is incumbent upon us to provide our students with experiences and lessons that will prepare them for the world outside the school walls. We are all hindered by budgets, assessments, and a range of external measurements we are meant to meet, but look for ways to tap into the culture your students belong to. Learn how to use blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, etc... in the context of your course. Make connection with other teachers facing the same challenges through professional listservs or educational sites. Be aware of the conflict of your generation and that of your students, but do your best to catch up and embrace the vast possibilities offered by a new and exciting digital world!