Carr Book Review

How do we adjust to the changes around us?  That question seems to be a reoccurring theme in schools and the literature about technology.   Few people take the time to consider how the changes are affecting how people think or behave.  The fear is that students will not be prepared to take on the new world that will be presented to them.  Nicholas Carr’s book What the Internet is doing to our Brains: the Shallows looks at what technology, the internet in particular, is doing to people’s think processes and behaviors. 

The early part of Carr’s book looks at how people’s brains changed as they moved from an oral society, to a literate society, and now to an internet based society.  Whether people want to admit it or not, society is dominated by people who want information now and they do not want to be burdened with paging through books upon books to get that information.  Carr interviewed 3 writers about their reading habits and how the internet has changed the way that they acquire information.   Media blogger, Scott Karp, told Carr that reading many short snippets of information is more effective than reading a 250 page book (Carr, 2010, p 9).

 Karp’s words are echoed by many of the students at Berlin High School.  Many students express that they are more comfortable using the internet than they are books and when forced to use books student need to be taught how to effectively use a book to find information.   Students do not know how to use the index to look for information or how to scan a page to find pertinent information.  They rely on the internet and in their minds it’s easier because they type in a word and google will spit out information on the topic they are looking for.  Michael Merzenich has studied how changes in mental behavior will alter the way that people think and his study suggest that student’s preference for using the internet is directly related to their heavy use of the internet (Carr, 2010, p 120).  Students use the internet so often that their brains have changed to fit to that thinking style.  Book use is limited, so their brains do not have the path ways necessary to readily use books.

If Merzenich is correct than the more student’s are exposed to the internet, the less able they will be to work with books.  At the same time, if teachers want to preserve the use of books then they need to incorporate the use of books into their classroom more often.  Teachers will also need to teach their students how to properly use books, so it does not become a pointless exercise.  Carr seems convinced that books will eventually become the domain of a few people who choose to continue to use books; if that is the case it would be appear to be a disservice to continue to teach students to use books (Carr, 2010, p 110).   On the flip side, if teachers stop teaching students to use books then those students will automatically become excluded from the elite. 

Schools struggle with the books or technology issue when deciding how to style themselves as 21^st century schools.  Should students still be taught to use books and the reading skills required to read works of literature?  Should students be given all the technology that is available? Will books or technology raise test scores?  And oh, do test scores actually tell if students are becoming smarter? For those who fear technology and the loss of books, google may prove to have a similar affect as the calculator.  Once unencumbered with methods that students are not comfortable with they may be able to go more in depth with their research or have an easier time synthesizing information (Carr, 2010, p 192) The consensus in the cohort seems to be that schools are trying to add more technology, wanted or not.  Cost though is affecting the ability to purchase technology and it is difficult to convince the community to put more money into education. 

Regardless of where a person stands on the books versus technology issue, schools need to determine what it means to be a 21^st century school and from there they must pursue their decision.  Schools need to have a clear message of where they intend to go or teachers and students will get lost in the messiness of bureaucracy.  Change is always difficult to deal with, but change without direction is next to impossible to implement.  If schools cannot rise to the occasion students will not have the skills to make them successful in their life after high school.  Then teachers will truly be doing their students a disservice. 

The first thing that needs to be decided is if the nation as a whole should determine what it means to be a 21^st century school or should it be determined by each school.  In the U.S. very few students are being prepared for factory work, so school structure is teaching students behaviors that are no longer pertinent.  Google uses the scientific method to perfect its business, but at the same time they need people who think for themselves and are capable of doing more than their one assigned task (Carr, 2010, p 150).  Not only is the use of technology important at schools, but also teaching students to work and be responsible without chaining them to desks in rows.     

Carr has demonstrated that technology is beginning to dominate the landscape and it is changing the way our brains operate.  Students are not the same as they were back in the 1950s or even in the 1990s, so why have schools not made the transition with their students?  In order for students to be successful, schools need to transform themselves into 21^st century schools.  To do that though, schools need to decide what it means to be a 21^st century school and then they need to make the transformation.