As I work around the Lake Owen campus, I stop to observe and note changes here (a summer camp) in just the several years that I have been coming here to work. I see staffers and campers pretty much all over with their laptops, cell phones, or ipods. The entire campus went wireless this past year. Sitting in the staff lounge, all 6 of us staffers have some sort of digital device in hand, ranging from ipods, laptops, ereaders, and ipads, and some even have 2 devices they are multitasking with. There is really no conversation, but everyone is extremely focused on whatever they are working on. Six years ago, when I came into the staff lounge (one of the few air conditioned buildings on campus) there would always be a crowd hanging out, watching tv, playing ping pong, or cards.
My first year at Lake Owen (6 years ago) I was a camp couselor mom and often dealt with homesick girls in my cabin. We actually had a pay phone in the cabin hallway and parents were instructed that if they wanted their child to be able to call home, they should send a pre-paid phone card. I recall one little girl using up her entire pre-paid card because she didn't understand how to use it to call home. Boy have times changed in 6 short years. Now, I don't know many campers (even the very young 5-6 year olds) that don't have a cell phone and there are no longer any pay phones in the cabins.
New this year, the camp now has a media center where the kids can check out video recorders and put together their own videos and movies. I see kids walking, skating, and biking all over with video recording device in hand, recording their own camp memories. They then upload them in the media center and work on editing them. I suspect most will most likely end up on YouTube. A big change from the disposable cameras that were once sold in the camp Canteen. It is quite obvious that not only have schools had to adjust to the growing world of technology and teaching digital natives, but other places have had to as well. This summer camp is a business, and to keep their business viable in this day and age, they have had to adjust to their client. Today's kids are living a digital lifestyle. I wonder how many campers they would have if they asked kids to check in their digital devices at the door and weren't allowed to use them all week? Why can't schools take a cue from summer camp??
How interesting. I agree we should let the kids have their devices in school and use the 'for the good' but I always thought of summer camp as a place to get away. We went a week (or more) without television, junk food, or access to telephones and were, I think, better for it.
ReplyDeleteI love driving off the grid, and that was my favorite thing about my recent vacation, even if I am very very far behind where I should be with my work for my classes.
It seems a little sad to me that no one is talking or playing ping pong or cards in the staff lounge anymore, and I worry about the ability of the iGeneration to communicate face to face.
I love being connected, but I've gotten news over the internet (sometimes from Facebook) that should have been delivered in person, or at least via a phone call. Email and posting and texting are very passive/aggressive forms of communication; very useful, very helpful in many cases, but I think there's a danger in overuse. I think sometimes we use them as a way to avoid communicating directly, and that can spiral into serious communication problems. I've been trying to break the email habit myself and go and talk to my colleagues when I can. . .
When my daughter went to Lake Owen (the week previous to Jen), she went with the expectation that she would not have cell phone coverage or Wifi. She was pleasantly surprised to be able to use her phone and laptop at Lake Owen. So maybe the camp's hookup are fairly new.
ReplyDeleteThe first time Marissa went to Lake Owen, she came back with a whole set of new friends. This time I haven't really heard of new friends at all, but perhaps it is because she went as a coach this time instead of as a camper. But I do wonder about the communication abilities of people today -- why facebook one person when you can call him/her?
I much prefer talking to email or facebook. I'm not thrilled with typing comments to blogs either. So much is left out when you can't see the person you are talking to. Besides, I can't type very well. At my new schools, I plan to talk with the teachers, I can't imagine trying to get to know someone via email, etc.