blaugh.com | Fitz and Pirillo
I encourage my students to use their devices during class to look up information on the web. We work on case studies and many times the internet can help them find some information that will be of use. Increasingly, however; I find that the internet has become an incredible crutch for many of our students. The instant I set them loose, they reach for their phone or computer, not even trying to tackle the problem on their own. This past week, I was disheartened by students turning in identical (and incorrect) work. Of course as an instructor, that points to one thing: plagiarism. I had to issue a decree to my students and then discuss with them in class the pitfalls of online searches. I was also saddened by my own searches that revealed that many of the “answers” to case studies and electronic labs that I use are readily available, posted online in sites like Yahoo Answers. No thought required. The information arms race has begun, and now I need to rethink the questions I ask. How do I make the learning experience different enough so that students can just find the answer with a quick search? And how long do I have until the answers to my new questions are posted again? I fear what that answer is… There is certainly a benefit of having students work on tough questions, but not if the answers are posted online and found with a quick search. Or, is this the way we as humans are progressing? Do we now keep our brains in our pockets and our thoughts online?
I had a very similar experience, Nick, with my own teenager. We were watching some sappy romantic movie that included a character who turned out at the end to maybe have been a ghost all along. It was unclear, so as the movie ended, I was baffled and blurted out, “Wait?? Was she a ghost?” I was all ready to talk about it and debate it. But my teenager grabbed her phone and started typing. When I asked what she was doing, she looked at me with her “duh” face and said, “I’m looking it up.” I was horrified! “I want to know what you think and talk about what I think!” I said. “I don’t care what strangers think.” But it never appeared to cross her mind to sit and discuss it with me, considering all the evidence and possibilities. She just wanted the Internet “answer.”
In speech class we have three impromptu speeches during the term. I have an envelope full of impromptu topics – some interesting, some cheesy. Students get to pick out two topics from the envelope and then select the one they’d like to speak about. Once they decide, they return the unused topic, and they have 3 minutes to write a 2 minute speech. It’s surprising that no one (to my knowledge) has turned to their smart phone before this term, but it happened a week or so ago. The prompt was something like ‘Explain the life cycle of a frog.’ I like the impromptu topics to be common knowledge – topics that most people can easily talk about without much research. The student didn’t even take notes, they brought their phone with them to the podium and commenced paraphrasing something they found online. I praised the student for using all the resources they had available, but it sparked an interesting discussion. Ultimately I asked they not use a device when planning the impromptu. This particular assignment requires independent thought.