Unit3.

iExplore 1

                                     My students don't know how to have a conversation

1  Recently I stood in front of my class, observing an all-too-familiar scene. Most of my students were in secret – or so they thought – checking their smartphones under their desks.

2  As I called their attention, their heads slowly lifted, their eyes reluctantly  glancing forward. I then cheerfully explained that their next project would practice a skill they all desperately needed: holding a conversation.

3  Several students looked confused. Others squirmed in their seats, waiting for me to stop watching the class so they could return to their phones. Finally, one student raised his hand. "How is this going to work?” he asked.

4  As I watched my class struggle, I came to realize that conversational competence might be the single most overlooked skill we fail to teach students. Many students spend hours each day engaging with ideas and one another through screens, but rarely do they have an opportunity to truly develop their interpersonal communication skills. Students' reliance on screens for communication is detracting – and distracting – from their engagement in real-time talk.

5  It might sound like a funny question, but we need to ask ourselves: Is there any 21st-century skill more important than being able to sustain confident, coherent conversation?

6  When students apply for jobs, they won't conduct interviews through their smartphones. When they negotiate pay raises and discuss projects with employers, they should have a thoughtful presence and demonstrate the ability to think on their feet. When they face significant life decisions, they must be able to think things through and communicate with their partners. If the majority of their conversations are based on fragments pinballed back and forth through a screen, how will they develop the ability to truly communicate in person?

7  In our zealous rush to meet 21st-century demands, we email assignments, create projects for tablets and laptops, and allow students to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). However, we aren't asking students to think and communicate in real time. Online discussion boards are useful tools for exchanging ideas. But they often encourage a "read, reflect, forget about it" response that doesn't truly engage students in extended critical thinking or conversation. All too often I've seen students simply post one (required) response to the question and then let the discussion go dead.

8  Sherry Turkle, a psychologist, MIT professor, and the author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Ourselves, has dedicated her career to researching people's relationships with technology. Much of her writing has shaped my concern about tech-overload and its impact on conversation. In a column of The New York Times, Turkle writes, "Face-to-face conversation unfolds slowly. It teaches patience. When we communicate on our digital devices, we learn different habits. … we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions. We dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters."

9  Could it be that the push for screen use in schools is watering down the questions and thinking we require of students? For me, using classroom discussion boards has increased participation and given a voice to many students normally reluctant to speak in class. On the other hand, I wonder if my frequent reliance on digital participation is too easy on students. As Turkle writes, "We are tempted to think that our little 'sips' of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation. But they don't."

10 Instead, what if we focused on sharpening students' ability to move back and forth between the digital and the real world? An ironic benefit of technology is that we can use digital devices to capture and teach the art of conversation. All smartphones are recording devices; why not use them to record and assess students' conversation skills? I've noticed that students take critical conversations, debates, and discussions more seriously when recorded. We can use technology to encourage students to strike a balance between digital literacy and interpersonal conversation.

11 The next time you interact with a youngster, try to have a conversation with him about a challenging topic. Ask him to explain his views. Push him to go further in his answers. Hopefully, you won't get the response Turkle did when interviewing a student about how technology has impacted his communication : "Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I'd like to learn how to have a conversation."