The App Generation


I remember having a pager in high school… I thought I was so cool. My parents or friends would send you a page and you would have to find a payphone to call them! This app generation will never know the struggle of having to decipher a “text” received on a pager that was a string of numbers and you had to sit with a phone to figure out what was being said. I grew up without apps but now it’s hard to remember what it was like… they have over simplified life and at times have made us very lazy.

Gardner and Davis said about young people and apps “they’ve come to think of the world as an ensemble of apps, to see their lives as a string of ordered apps, or perhaps, in many cases, a single, extended, cradle-to-grave app.”  This is troubling to me. I think of my own 11-year-old, her app usage, and what it will become as she gets bigger. I think all of her apps are games right now, she is too young for social media and I’m going to push that off as long as I can.


Comments

  1. Alana StanleyNovember 30, 2019 at 7:44 AM

    This comment is from Alana Stanley. I am feeling a bit skeptical that my email is going to show up.

    I agree that Google (all search engines) and apps have over simplified life. I recently had dinner with my best friend's extended family and her mom's elderly cousins had been on a cruise where they provided MENSA activities. Cousin Patty said that they have had to change the MENSA activities from straight questions to problem solving activities because their participants were very good at using google to answer the questions which defeated the purpose of the MENSA themed cruise. They were able to save several copies of these Mensa problem solving activities to share at dinner. Changes in technology create changes everywhere!

    I believe that children should be children as long as they can because there will be plenty of time to be an adult. I can't imagine trying to convince the app generation of this idea today. I think it comes down to parental monitoring and restricting time on devices. Also , knowledge of technological products, apps, safety features, etc. and what they will allow a child to do and /or allow a parent to allow or restrict.



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  2. JulianneDecember 1, 2019 at 11:34 AM

    My third-grader definitely sees the world as an ensemble of apps. This week I was working with her to look up information about Ancient Egypt, and she didn't know how to just go to Google and type in search terms. If there was a google app on her ipad she was ok, but she didn't know that on a laptop you have to open a browser and then type the search terms. It was so weird. Then I thought that the plethora of apps available to kids actually make our jobs teaching searching and sorting for information even more important. You can't just rely on an app as a shortcut. You actually need to understand where the information is coming from. It reminded me of the times when I have freaked out because the key-less entry on my car hasn't worked and I have absolutely panicked. Then I realize, duh, you have a KEY! My point is sometimes the shortcut paralyzes us! We have to be cognizant of this with apps and our kids and students.

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  3. Lauren HentzDecember 5, 2019 at 11:11 AM

    It seems like everything needs an app now. You can't access your banking, make a reservation, get a coupon, pay for parking, or schedule a class at the gym without downloading an additional app. I personally find this frustrating, but I can definitely see the convenience. The format is familiar and user friendly. Whenever I use my phone for anything there is always the option to "download the app!" I like simplicity and having a million apps on my phone stresses me out and make me feel controlled. I guess the app generation will be used to this and even crave being boxed in by apps.

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