This is not your parents’ college. Today college kids are bombarded with technology not ever imagined 30 years ago. While it was virtually unheard of for a college student to have their own computer a decade or so ago, a student without a computer now wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s college courses. Not only do students carry a computer with them from class to class but they also carry a cell phone, an Mp3 player, and maybe even a Blackberry.
Yesteryear’s students would leave the “real” world for a few hours to go to class and concentrate on the notes their professors would scratch onto those sea-sick green chalkboards. Today, most chalkboards have been replaced by whiteboards, and those few historical artifacts that remain make wonderful backdrops for the new power point presentation screens.
Students learn to type fast because if they slow down for a minute the presentation screen may change to the next power point slide and those un-typed notes will forever be lost in that land where all old digital presentations meet their untimely demise. While the students are typing madly away at their laptop computers, they are simultaneously receiving text messages from friends and relatives giving them a constant stream of social information. One hand on the computer keyboard and the other wearing away the tiny buttons on their cell phones, now that’s multi-tasking.
And then there are websites like Myspace and Facebook. Students often have one laptop window open to a word document for notes and another open to these social networking sites. Students are given more information at one time than any earlier generation.
While they aren’t at school, students are at their jobs or doing homework or sleeping (if they get the chance). If you add up all of the time each student spends doing these activities it equals well over 24 hours. That’s not taking into account time for the student to drive from school to work or any free time to see family or friends. How do the cram all of these events into one day? They must be multi-tasking geniuses.
It may seem like a great thing to have so many multi-tasking protégés ready to hit the workforce after graduation, but there may be some unforeseen toll it will take on these students. What about exhaustion? Depression? Or other stress related problems?
Sure, the students of today have amazing technology at their fingertips; more informational power than ever before… but is it too much for them to handle? More importantly, what is the point? Where is this constant stream of information taking us? There has to be some culmination right? What happens when this information hits so hard and so fast that our brains simply can’t register it any quicker? Is that the point we really want to reach? The flow already strains students today… what about the next generation?
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This column reminds me of a book titled Future Shock that was very popular a generation ago. Its points are echoed strongly here.
The information overload is an interesting angle to bring up. Most professors would argue that college students are making bad choices about that - taking too much MySpace or Facebook or email information - and not paying attention to the textbooks.
Interesting point about students have to learn to type fast to take good notes... I had never considered that, as so few students ever taken ANY notes, it seems.
Good column, easy to read... Nicely done.
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