Using the blog to study

My oldest son posted the material for a biology test on his blog, and got a ton of visits from his classmates, along with the corresponding thanks from the ones who didn’t have the notes.

He told me that copying the material into his blog doubled as studying (nice excuse :).

Every generation uses the technology it has at hand. I remember that a couple of years ago the new thing was using cell phones to store cheat sheets or pass answers during tests; now many schools ban cell phones during tests.

The net is full of sites where you can find ready-made assignments. I think we need to wise up on these issues and not criticize kids for using technology. What matters is that young people learn to think, not to recite material. After all, why memorize material when there’s Google?

Teachers and parents have to understand this phenomenon, integrate it and, in a way, steer it in a positive direction. Evaluating the results matters too.

I hope that if the biology teacher reads the blog he doesn’t get angry about the way the kids talk about him, which I think is normal when you’re a teenager; I certainly wasn’t gentle with my teachers behind their backs either. I think you come to appreciate the “old folks” with time, and only the good ones.