Generation Wired / Parade.com
This happens to be a good general read on the issue of children and technology. As stated, this age group averages the use of technology on average about nine hours a day. And yes, there is no denying that this nonstop connectivity is having an affect on social and intellectual development as well as perhaps even rewiring this generation's brains. But as the article points out, the principal responsibility lies first with the parents, their commitment to talk about using technology and being aware of their child's use of it not only at home but outside, too.
But if you think about it, us Generation X'ers have undergone our own technology revolution. We went from 8-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s. How many of us remember actually changing the channel by moving a dial on the television set when we were five or six (would you know how to manually change the channel on a LED touch screen set today if the remote went out)? Video killed the radio star back in 1980, yet civilization has not ceased to exist (I listen to Democracy Now, not watch it, even though it's available in that format, too). And if you still have a landline, well, you really are dating yourself. Let go, let wireless (and save some money, too).
Nowadays, teaching and technology is a symbiotic relationship, as educators we should be fostering this relationship in an effective and positive manner.
