Digital distraction or outdated curriculum?

photo © 2009 Nationaal Archief | more info (via: Wylio)

I recently read Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction, a very interesting article on The New York Times which talks about the impact of technology distractions (gadgets, internet, etc.) on the education and development of young people. The article takes an example of Vishal Singh, a 17-year old youngster who admits that his school grades suffer due to distractions from Facebook and YouTube. Yet, the internet also provides him with a direct path to his passion, which is film and video editing. He spends hours in front of his computer — his face mere inches from the screen — teaching himself video editing skills. He hopes to build a portfolio good enough to make recruiters forgive his bad grades.

The evolving meaning of education is fascinating to me. I’ve written about it at least once here. Two things come to mind. First, no matter what year we live in, we will always have distraction. When I was young, it was the neighbor kid calling me to play ball outside. Now, it’s some guy arguing with me on Twitter. I don’t think one is more distracting than the other. It’s tempting to keep peeking at your Twitter timeline, but doing so only takes a couple of minutes at a time. If you don’t go overboard, you can still be productive. The solution to distraction is still the same: self-discipline.

Second (and here’s the big difference between growing up in the ’70s and in the ’00s), the so-called “digital distraction” can actually be a valuable skill in today’s environment. We call them “distraction” only because they are outside the school curriculum. But just because they are not included in formal curriculum doesn’t mean they are not valuable. 

Career models used to be like this: study, get good grades, get employed by a good company, get promoted, make a name for yourself. But now (and in the future), it’s much easier to build a career on your own because the cost of starting your own business is so much lower. The internet provides you with free information to build your own skills. The free instructions on YouTube, for example, gave Vishal Singh video editing skills. 

There is a wealth of free information out there that doesn’t fit into any high school class or university major. However, this is the kind of information that can be used to build relevant skills for today’s workers. Many people may lump them into “distraction” but I think it’s unfair. I think the better action is to visit school curriculum and ask ourselves how to make it more relevant in today’s age.