In his new book, Present Shock,
Douglas Rushkoff argues that, in an increasingly technology-centric world, we
need to take care not to let technology replace natural cycles in our
lives. Over the centuries, we have
become to see time as linear and to recognize natural cycles within that linear
structure. Technology, however, creates
a world of immediate choices: just as the Internet is global—eliminating
geography as a defining factor in our lives—it is “timeless:” everything is
available at all times. Each
moment ceases to be a point in the linear progression of time; instead, it
becomes an immediate choice.
The implications:
Instead of taking our cues from the
central clock tower or the manager with a stopwatch, we carry our personal digital
devices with us. Our daily
schedule, dividing work time from time off, is discarded; we are always-on. Our boss isn’t the guy in the corner office, but a PDA in
our pocket. Our taskmaster is
depersonalized and internalized—and even more rigorous than the union busters
of yesterday. There is no safe
time. If we are truly to take time
away from the program, we feel we must disconnect altogether and live off the
grid,’ as if we were members of a different, predigital era” (p. 85).
Some
of the symptoms of this new environment are a sense that we must act
immediately, in the moment, to stimuli presented by our digital tools; we have
lost sight of natural rhythms—day versus night, time of month, time of
year—that used to guide our actions.
Technology gives us many choices, but the obligation to choose is, as
Rushkoff writes, “no choice at all”—“especially when it prevents us from
achieving our own sense of flow and rhythm” (p.115).
In
response, we have invented new terms—multi-tasking, information overload,
etc.—to describe ways to respond to the constant pressure of digital
choices.
This
is a special challenge for those of us who create online educational
environments. Not only are we using digital technology to connect students to
information and to a learning community, but we are also creating new
environments in which students use the technology to develop their ability to
transform information into knowledge and then work together to apply that
knowledge to solve problems. In
this environment, in which time is replaced by a world of immediate choices, how
do we use the digital environment to create new educational opportunities while
helping students develop their ability to thrive in this environment? Here are some beginning thoughts:
Course Designers and Faculty:
·
Since the online environment has no geographic
limits, we should be conscious that our students will be in many different time
zones. Course design should
minimize synchronous sessions, which require that some students be online at
times when they would otherwise be sleeping or doing other things. Design should optimize the asynchronous
nature of the digital environment and let students determine when, during any
24-hour period, they engage.
·
In a traditional classroom, 15-20 percent of the
students actively engage in discussion; the others learn by taking notes. We need to avoid what Rushkoff calls
the “quiz show approach” (p. 125) that rewards the first hand up when a
question is asked. Set a
reasonable deadline for response—understanding that students are not all
available at the same time—and allow everyone to answer before responding to
anyone.
·
Let students know your expectations with regard
to timing and rhythm of response and interaction.
Students:
·
Be aware of your own daily rhythms. For
instance, it may be that you do your best research in the evenings, that afternoons
are the best time for you to analyze ideas, but that you are most articulate in
the mornings. If so, use the
evenings to seek out content, afternoons to read what your faculty member and
other students have said on a topic, and respond the next morning. Make the asynchronous nature of the environment
work for you.
·
Avoid the idea that you must respond immediately
to every stimulus. Don’t feel the
need to be the “first hand up” for every question. See what other students have to say and then pitch in when
you are ready. Make it a
conversation, where you both listen to others and share both your original
ideas and your responses. Don’t
feel the need to respond immediately; give yourself the time you need to
articulate what you really mean to say; that may mean giving yourself the time
to do more research before you respond.
While
any course is about content—gathering information, validating it as knowledge,
and applying knowledge to solve problems—it is also about developing learning
styles that, ideally, students can take with them into their professions. The lesson from Present Shock is that we need to use technology in a way that gives
us access to choices, but that also protects our ability to optimize the
natural cycles that are part of our physical and cultural DNA. This is a challenge for course
designers, faculty, and students alike.
