We're all in this together...

When Bill Gates decided to put the power of a computer in everyone's hands, I wonder if he had any idea how consuming the technology would be to future generations of kids. Due to the computer, kids growing up today have more information available to them than at any time in history. However, if one looks at the top search terms over the last seven days, the terms are Facebook, Lyrics, Youtube, Yahoo, and MySpace ("you" and "my" were also terms for those struggling to spell Youtube or MySpace). With the exception of the term "lyrics," the rest of the terms are all directly related to computer related activities.

As the 2009-10 school year gets under way, in some ways the computer has not merely become a tool, but also a crutch for people. People use the computer for many things and are instantly updated on the trivia of the world. That is perhaps the problem with computers from an education perspective. Students want information instantly, and trudging though the process of learning isn't compatible to the computer generation. Some things take a lot of time to learn, and people have to develop skills that allow them to do more than put search terms into a computer.
Learning the basic skills such as writing, math, and application of information to the world (science) is tough. However, it is also rewarding.

American students are learning to be Twittered, Iphoned, and Facebooked so that they don't think about the future or even the present. They are thinking about looking at their electronic device in case they "miss" something. A friend asking "What's up," or that would be too taxing on time, so they would use abbreviations. It isn't just the high school group, it happens on colleges as well. As most older people know, one of the great things about going to college is having a group of people your own age, at the prime of life, who you can meet. Walking through the local university last year, I was amazed to see a class let out and a hundred kids streamed out. None of them were talking to each other, they had all whipped out their cell phones so they could discuss how boring their class or to find out if they'd missed anything in the previous hour.

There they were, all streaming out of class, ignoring the opportunity to get to know each other face-to-face. It was an appalling site. We used to think of people that behaved in that way as geeks, but I guess we're all becoming geeks in a way. The geeks I used to know were in their own world and their own thoughts. The technology geek now is consumed by thoughts of what might have happened in the last minute, and seems to have little thought of the future.

I don't know what the future holds for this country. Each generation looks at the kids that follow them and wonder if the world will continue; it does. However, it seems that as technology permeates the landscape, and instant gratification is measured in minutes and seconds, something has been lost. Obviously, we've all gained from the advantage of the computer, but perhaps there are some virtues that are lost. Life doesn't always entertain us, and sometimes we have to face problems that the internet won't solve. That's one of the lessons we should put into the school's curriculum. It might even be possible to program the lesson on a computer!

Facebook and the Tour de France

While in India, Bill Gates told an audience he'd given up on Facebook due to too many friends. If ever there was an advertisement for the value of education, there it is. Everyone wants to be Bill Gates' friend. He also said the "text messaging" wasn't his style either.

Bill Gates knows the value of education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has taken on many challenges; one of them is the state of American education. The Gates Foundation has had mixed success, but one thing they're doing is trying new ideas. They have thrown some money into the education arena and found that success can mixed and unpredictable.

This week President Obama came out with a plan to spend about $4 bn on American education. The problem is that the ideas being paraded about seem very similar to those of the previous administration. Yet, it is sort of like the opening day at the Tour de France race. Everyone's excited when the race starts. Where will the Obama education "plan" be when the race gets to the tougher stages; that is the question that needs to be answered. Right now, with money to wave around, both Bill Gates and Obama have lots of friends.

What we need are leaders.