Week 5 read & reflect

Will our descendants look like Kif?

A couple of weeks ago, here on my blog, I made the hypothesis that  since technology could be considered a language, and given that our children are immersed in it from birth, could we assume that their technology skills are processed utilizing a different area of the brain than adults? 

How interesting then, it was to learn during the course of this week’s reading that my hunch was correct!  According to Small & Vorgan's book iBrain , the iKid is digitally hardwired, possessing impressively different neural networks than those who came to the digital age as adults. It is alarming to note that this evolution comes at the expense of a weakened neural circuitry in regard to human contact and social interaction.  As indicated in the iBrain, chapter two, implications for the classroom could include students who:

·       expecting instant gratification.

·       possess shorter attention spans

·       feel uncomfortable and isolated when reading books

·       are bored with traditional learning

·       may not have normal interactive social skills and may struggle with being empathetic to those around them.

Finally, an explanation for the reason, “Those kids are getting worse every year”!

In the excerpt from Jensen's Arts with the Brain in Mind we find that the arts can play a key role in the learning process.  Jenson says that ‘art making and seeing are a whole-brained experience’. Through the process of seeing, multiple areas of the brain are engaged. The visual system of the brain synthesizes prior knowledge, plugs in new information, and sets forth a ‘created sense of what is and what could be’. (p 55)  Thus, the greater exposure a student has learning in and through the arts, the greater this bank of prior knowledge he has to draw from and the greater the opportunities for the generation of new ideas. 

Through the process of creating art students:

·       have the opportunity to express themselves

·     develop higher order thinking skills (When art is integrated into the  curriculum, students perform better in other subjects.)

·       become more self-disciplined

·       develop social skills, work ethic, and an appreciation for teamwork

 In comparing the classroom implications of the digitally hardwired iKid to the benefits of creating art, should they be posted side–by-side, lines could be drawn, with art providing a solution to nearly of the implications.  What a powerful case this makes not only for the Visual Arts as a subject, but also for the use of art throughout the entire school.  

How fortunate that I already work in a field where I encourage my students to express themselves on a regular basis.  This further reinforces my belief that the arts might well be the most important subjects in our schools.  Jensen implores us to, “throw out all the preconceptions of who can do art and who cannot.”(p 64) This spoke to me very strongly.  Not that I would ever ‘give up’ on a child, but I sometimes struggle with those students who, who out of laziness or a preconceived notion that they aren’t good at art, simply refuse to engage in any project which requires sustained effort. (You know the type; the ones who make you want to pull your hair out!)  I am exploring the idea of how I can chunk assignments up for these students, so that perhaps, with greater success, will come a greater degree of engagement.  I also believe that I need to provide more time for collaborative projects, which would foster social skills and promote a sense of belonging to a team. 

As the brain of the iKid continues to evolve, it’s imperative that some intervention take place lest humans develop into affect-less beings with enormous heads!