I think it's excellent the number of "positive deviants" we have thanks to the Internet. One of my students mentioned what school in Korea was like, and it turned into a huge conversation involving most of the class. This particular student absolutely refuses to participate (I assigned him a tiny role in Romeo and Juliet and he suddenly came down with a stomach ache, requiring a class-long trip to the nurse.) But he was suddenly an authority on something and was spewing forth incredible details about what the school day is like compared to ours. When someone asked him why he knows this, he just replied that it interested him. Like Ito points out, had he been assigned such a topic he may have dreaded it.
I also worry that if students become used to only studying what they are interested in, they won't become as well-rounded as they should. I understand that the authors are discussing interests outside of school, but I see firsthand how kids will refuse to do something that they don't like. Much of this stems from schools catering to the students' interests instead of forcing (I realize that sounds terrible) the students to study general items. I had a liberal supervisor one time who told us that if kids didn't like the novel we were teaching, just pick another one. If that sounds ridiculous to you, it should.
Managing media consumption is a growing problem in the classroom. When we use technology in class, the students are always given what our intention is supposed to be. The problem is maintaining their focus. Students will rush through a diagnostic test so they can watch Youtube videos of basketball. Or they want to listen to music as they type up a final draft of a paper, then spend a majority of the time choosing what songs they want to hear.
The cell phones, which should be a valuable tool, aren't used appropriately. If a student encounters a word unknown to them, they don't use a free dictionary app or even google it to determine the meaning. And if they try to type a paper on their phones (which sounds like torture) they are distracted by the barrage of texts or status updates, leaving the work unfinished.
I know what you may be saying, confiscate the phones. Students are very rarely willing to hand their phones over, leading to a power struggle. Security gets called, class is disrupted, and the student hates you and can only take it out on you by not doing any work. Then he or she will get the phone back the next period anyway. Sorry to make it sound like I think phones are the devil, but I think it illustrates the fact that students need guidance on how to control their impulses when it comes to 24/7 connectivity.
Commercial culture reminds me of Uber drivers. Sure it's an established business model, as taxi drivers will tell you, but it utilizes technology to improve the process. If anything, it makes the market more competitive and should help the consumer. It seems more reliable (and cleaner) than most taxis. But I confess, I have never used either Uber or a taxi.
I think Twitter is irresponsible for allowing such anonymity among its members. I realize that makes me sound old and out of touch, but if you can anonymously act like a fool and post nonsense without fear of people knowing who you are, I find that to be dangerous. I also realize that the majority are responsible and cordial, but my gut reaction is what Ito condemned- take it all away. And I know that's unreasonable.
But when we hear about the case of the girl who used Periscope to broadcast her friend's rape, I seriously wonder if more regulations are needed. What is to stop underage girls from posing nude? If you rely on someone reporting any offenses, just remember that way more people "liked" the rape than reported it. I don't like those chances. To be clear, I'm not calling for a ban on these tools, just more safeguards.
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