Are we teaching kids to hate reading?

Source

OK, the statistics in the graphic above may be questionable (Robert Brewer is a pastor at a Texas church and the Jenkins Group (a "custom" book publisher) study is from 2003, but the trend seems to be that people are reading fewer books. 

I have to say that with the availability of streaming video (Netflix), easy free access to magazines (Zinio), and social media (countless blogs, Twitter, and Facebook), even this life-long reader finds himself finishing fewer books. Given the availability of these online resources plus the huge attractions of video games, I see younger kids reading less as well.

So is reading a good novel, a biography, or a classic becoming the acquired taste of a small percentage of our population? Will book lovers become a smallish cult like opera affectionados? (See also Libraries for a Post Literate Society.) Should I even worry about this shift from print to other means of gaining information and being entertained?

I can't help but think that schools are pushing kids away from reading for pleasure. Given the emphasis on reading as an "assessable" skill, rather than a human, personal endeavor, we are very concerned that kids can read, but not that they actually do. Dull textbooks and primers and programmed reading instruction (read the paragraph and answer the questions, repeat ad nauseum) are traditional, support the publishers' bottom line, and make schools feel they are serious about improving reading scores. Now if they only created actual readers. 

Librarians, keep putting books in kids' hands that they want to read. We may be readings last, best hope.

(After I posted this, I received a tweet recommending Readicide. It's on my list!)

Another look at privacy

Assuming the majority is correct - and privacy is a good thing - you probably have examples from your own law-abiding life in which losing your privacy created a lasting problem for you. Can you tell me a few stories like that?

No? Neither can i.

Scott (Dilbert) Adams's blog post "The Cost of Privacy" turns recent privacy concerns on their pointy little heads and suggests some examples of when giving up a bit of privacy is a good thing:

• Maybe you shared your medical history with your doctor and that allowed him to treat you more effectively.
• Maybe you put your personal information on an online dating service and it helped you find the love of your life.
• Maybe you showed your past tax returns to your bank and it helped you secure a mortgage to your dream house.
• Maybe you were secretly gay or lesbian and it was a huge relief when you came out.
• Maybe you installed a device on your car that allows your insurance company to track your driving history in return for lower rates.
• Maybe you enjoy sharing your life on Facebook.
• Maybe Google tracked your search history and later served up an ad that was exactly what you were looking for.
• Maybe your favorite airline gave you a free upgrade because they know you fly with them often.
• Maybe you put your work history on LinkedIn and someone offered you a job.

We tend to fear losing our privacy until it's gone. Then we wonder what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the bigger challenge than retaining privacy is getting anyone to care about you at all.

The problem lies not in sharing information but when: 

... the government has privacy and you don't. I'm not in favor of that situation either. If the government were to operate with complete transparency, not counting some national security secrets, law-abiding citizens would have nothing to fear. The government and the governed would keep each other under control. So don't confuse a problem created by too much privacy (the government's) with one caused by too little privacy.

I would suggest that if businesses, like Google, also operated with transparency, many irrational fears would be eliminated.

So what are the implications for schools?

1. Collect the data you need about your students. I doubt "Big Data" will be the solution to education's woes, but if test scores, formative assessment information, etc. help teachers create individual learning plans for students (balanced with human wisdom and caring), the data will used for good. In the spirit of transparency, let students, parents, and the community know exactly what individual data is collected and how it is used.
2. Understand FERPA guidelines and share data only with those authorized to have access to it.
3. Scrutinize service providers' data privacy policies, including websites and "apps" that require student logins. 
4. Use good security practices including having an effective firewall, good password policies, and secure data transfer protocols. 
5. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, personal privacy needs to be a big part of any Digital Citizenship curriculum. Students, like adults, will have different levels of comfort with sharing personal information. And that is OK. But these should be deliberate, informed choices, not ignorant submission.

It's all of us knowing both the pluses and minuses of sharing information about ourselves rather than rants of protest against or defense of business and government practices that will be of greatest benefit our students.

(Have at me, Miquel!)

Source

Ed Leadership column now online

Making good technology choices: a team effort, my Power Up column for for September is available.