Are We Too Wired?

I found this great article that I'll stash way until 3rd trimester writing: persuasion. Last year, my students did a 5 paragraph persuasion piece on whether kids are too wired or not: the consequences of technology. I loved doing the piece & discussing it with them. We even did a "mock" debate with teams. It was great to hear the thinking of these 10 & 11 year-olds as they really thought about how much we multi-task & consume our time with widgets & gadgets. I can be just as bad as though youngsters listening to their ipod, while texting a friend, IM chatting, and doing homework. One really has to wonder how deeply productive & connected one can be while doing more than one activity. Here's the original article from Time Magazine 2006 that we read together as a class to get a jump start on the topic.