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Many students today know more about computers and the Internet than their teachers or parents do. On Wednesday, April 26, NPR's Margot Adler explores how this knowledge is changing the relationship between young people and the adults in their lives. In a visit to Champlain Valley Union High School in northern Vermont, Adler discovers how students empowered with high-tech skills cope with school and home. What happens when students are the authorities in the technological revolution?
 Listen NPR's Margot Adler reports on students, teachers, and the new technology.
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CVU Computer Room |
Bill Mares, teacher and parent:
"I look at my own 14 year old. He’s light years ahead of me. I think it gives him an intensified teenage arrogance. He came in to fix something last night. To him it was stupid. He did it. It gave him a sense of superiority, even more than before. "
David Parker, Senior at Champlain Valley Union High School:
Now I think its fairly common that students are teaching teachers and adults and parents how to do stuff especially in the area of technology.
It's empowering. It gives you something to feel good about that you can help somebody, your parent or your teacher, your friend learn how to do something. But there’s still a lot of things, different things, I can learn from my parents and from my friends and from my teachers. Just because there’s one area of technology that I might be able to teach them something about, they can teach me a lot of other different things.
Susan Parker, art teacher and David's mom:
"I think something that we all forget, or people like me that don’t know much about computers, is how creative it is. You know, you think of the arts and writing and that kind of thing being creative. It’s amazing. And I’ve just respected that with David, how creative he can be when you get to a certain level. When you can understand actually how things work then you can really fly with it."
Rich parker, David's dad:
"I guess I’m just really excited to see what kids are able to do today ... every generation probably says this, but it is so much beyond what we were exposed to 30 years ago, or 25 years ago ... the changes have been phenomenal. Its given a lot of opportunities to kids to be able to learn things on their own and progress in their own areas of interest without having to have a teacher there to lead them. I think the schools are great and I think the kind of openness they have in David’s school has been really positive for him."
The scary part was feeling like your kid just knows more than you do. And so in tune with what’s going on from a technology standpoint that there’s nothing I can teach him in that area. As kids get older you sorta know that they’re going to catch up to you, but he caught up so quickly that it was just a little startling. Scary is probably the wrong word; (it's been) surprising and a little startling.
Links & Resources:
Champlain Valley Union High School
Vermont school committed to providing students with an environment in which to grow and be challenged academically, and to pursue activities which make high school a special time.
Seymour Papert, Ph.D.
One of the country's leading authorities on the convergence of technology and learning.
MaMaMedia.com
A website for children 6- to 12-years-old and their families, with activities based on constructionist learning theory.
Produced for All Things Considered by Art Silverman; researched by Julie Harbin and edited by Cadi Simon.
The Changing Face of America is an 18-month-long NPR series that tells the stories of regular, everyday Americans and the issues they face at a time of rapid and dramatic change in the U.S. This special series can be heard on NPR's Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered and Morning Edition.
The Changing Face of America series is sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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