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Is More Better?

Nickelodeon, best known by parents and kids for its television network and numerous television shows and cartoons, is in the business of understanding its audience.  Their study, Living in a Digital World, which was published in 2006, produced a great deal of data and arrived at a number of interesting conclusions.  One of the main conclusions is that technologies have made old skills irrelevant.

For example, map reading is increasingly becoming obsolete.  My 20-year-old son Scott, who has what I affectionately refer to as the Gabriel gene, struggles with directions, as did his wonderful grandmother and one of his uncles.  Scott, who can look at a piece of complex music and read it as if it were simply the letters of the alphabet, has difficulty reading a map.  However, Scott virtually never gets lost, as before he goes anywhere he simply gets on the computer, plugs in his starting and ending locations to MapQuest, and voila, a set of clear directions along with a visual map to guide him on his way.  I’m sure when he is somewhat older and no longer relies upon his dad for money in his pocket, he will have a GPS and will listen to a sweet voice telling him where to go. 

Other tools, such as word processing programs with spelling and grammatical checking, reduce the need for certain spelling and writing skills.  For many people, looking through the “Yellow Pages” is old fashioned due to their ability to go on the Internet or simply dial 411 on a cell phone for information.  Going to the library and conducting old-fashioned research is virtually unknown to children growing up in the 21st century.

As throughout history, new technologies replace what were once necessary skills.  For example, the invention of the printing press must have put a lot of calligraphers out of business, and the art of beautiful handwriting is no longer valued.  While some of these new digital technologies, for example, voice mail systems, which have put many helpful receptionists out of work, may be an anathema to some, they often result in improvements in other areas.

For children with learning, attention, and self-regulatory difficulties, digital technologies are an incredible asset.  For kids with learning disabilities such as dysgraphia, whose  handwriting may be unrecognizable, keyboards, computers, and word processing can be a godsend.  Kids with organizational and memory issues have cell phones and personal digital assistants to help them keep track of things.  Kids who have difficulty with mathematical computations can readily use a calculator, often available right on their cell phones.

Having these technologies does not mean that we should stop teaching these skills.  However, it certainly allows for us to focus on more complex, higher-order skills, which require an understanding of and fluency in the basic skills, but not necessarily at an expert level.  More importantly, for those who struggle to learn the basic skills, these digital technologies serve as a great support and help allow their other capabilities to flourish, rather than having to devote endless hours to drill and skill strategies.  Using digital technologies to support basic learning so that kids can spend more time developing their strengths simply is better!