Digital Nation

Patty Lopez and I were lucky enough to attend the 'Celebration of Teaching and Learning' last month. I love that conference because there's so much to choose from, so many great speakers and attendees that it generates such positive energy and excitement. Our biggest challenge was deciding what workshops and panel discussions to attend. We split up several times and got together to compare notes afterwards. Patty reported that the panel discussion by the makers of the PBS documentary Digital Nation was fascinating as they showed parts of the documentary and discussed the questions of how the digital age is affecting brain function and development.

I was bummed that I didn't get to attend so I searched for the video online and of course, it's there, as well as online discussions on the themes presented. You can watch the hour and a half video in segments, like I did, while preparing dinner or whenever you have a few minutes. It really is worthwhile, since we, 'digital immigrants', are teaching 'digital natives' every day, and it's important to try to understand what that means, in terms of the way they think and learn. For better or worse, the digital age is here to stay. We must strive to understand its effect on our students and children, in order to teach them better.