In a few years, the incoming frosh will have been outfitted with text-friendly cell phones from the moment they could press the keys, and even email will have been rendered too "formal" for day-to-day written conversation.
The headline will read:
Incoming College Freshmen Have Never Written a Coherent Sentence
Ah, I see this year's Beloit College Mindset List has now been released. Remember to cite your sources, kids: we're academics, and if we don't care about that, who will?
Well, it's been some time since I licked a stamp. Probably not c. 18 years (I may even still own a few odd-denominated ones that need to be licked), but a while. Heck, I only *use* a stamp (or, usually, a few stamps at once) once every 2-3 months (no, I'm not good about sending greeting cards. Pretty much all my bills are handled electronically.)
Actually, these lists seem to be getting less surprising lately. That may indicate either that (1) I'm getting so old I'm getting used to being old, or (2) I'm getting to the point where nieces, nephews, and friends' children are nearing (or passing) college age, so I have a clearer sense of the years during which their generation has grown up, and can even picture what sorts of things the current college generation was doing at various ages.
However, following Frod's comment, I think these lists need to pay more attention to the modes in which these students are used not only to writing (texting/twitter vs. email) but also to reading. How much of their total reading has been in paper vs. electronic form? How much of the electronic (and paper) reading contained hyperlinks, sidebars, etc., vs. a single sustained, developing progression of text? Those are very different ways of reading.
I DON'T NEED TO FEEL ANY MORE OLD!
ReplyDeleteIn a few years, the incoming frosh will have been outfitted with text-friendly cell phones from the moment they could press the keys, and even email will have been rendered too "formal" for day-to-day written conversation.
ReplyDeleteThe headline will read:
Incoming College Freshmen
Have Never Written a Coherent Sentence
...Or thought a coherent thought.
DeleteAh, I see this year's Beloit College Mindset List has now been released. Remember to cite your sources, kids: we're academics, and if we don't care about that, who will?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's been some time since I licked a stamp. Probably not c. 18 years (I may even still own a few odd-denominated ones that need to be licked), but a while. Heck, I only *use* a stamp (or, usually, a few stamps at once) once every 2-3 months (no, I'm not good about sending greeting cards. Pretty much all my bills are handled electronically.)
ReplyDeleteActually, these lists seem to be getting less surprising lately. That may indicate either that (1) I'm getting so old I'm getting used to being old, or (2) I'm getting to the point where nieces, nephews, and friends' children are nearing (or passing) college age, so I have a clearer sense of the years during which their generation has grown up, and can even picture what sorts of things the current college generation was doing at various ages.
However, following Frod's comment, I think these lists need to pay more attention to the modes in which these students are used not only to writing (texting/twitter vs. email) but also to reading. How much of their total reading has been in paper vs. electronic form? How much of the electronic (and paper) reading contained hyperlinks, sidebars, etc., vs. a single sustained, developing progression of text? Those are very different ways of reading.
Delete