The chapter begins with a concern by some business leaders and educators of the decline of a work ethic of today’s youth. However, it was noted that this view may be due to how one defines work ethic – it may not be that there is less of a work ethic, but just a different type. The internet has changed how students learn, work, and live. The internet has evolved the process of how students learn; allowing them to multitask (or “continuous partial attention”) with research, entertainment and socially instantly.
The chapter focus deals with the concept many teachers have of their students – that of having unmotivated students in the classroom. The author has discovered in his interviews and studies that it may not be that our students are not motivated, but that students nowadays are motivated in different ways in we ourselves were. With the coming of age of the internet and all the related technology, students have come to be used to instant results and discovering results through various types of inquiries. They have also evolved into using various resources, not just the web, but other networks including social.
All this basically boils down to teachers having to become aware of students’ competence and self-assuredness of using ‘different’ tools in the classroom. The chapter also made the connection to making the learning in the classroom real-world in order to motivate students. As one of the interviewees stated, “school is boring for kids today because it hasn’t caught up with what kids can do outside of school”.
My quote comes from the Singapore educators on page 192. "Their new mantra is 'teach less, learn more. Schools need to focus more on projects and the inquiry method. They need to engage students with passion."
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