Ready to Implement the New 3 R’s in 2024?
We are in a quiet time of year here at Basic Skills- a time of preparation for the next testing season which will begin in March of next year. I’m guessing most of you will continue home schooling for the next two to three weeks and then take a break from the books as the activities of the holidays take over.
I’ve been thinking about something I read a couple of months ago. What I read keeps resurfacing in my mind. Something too important to shake off or ignore. Over the next three posts, I’ll give a brief overview of what I read. I’ll be pointing you to the article itself if you want to know more.
Decades ago, the 3R’s, as we called them, were- “reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.” As professional teachers and home school educators, this catchphrase summed up our thinking about the educational fundamentals needed by all students. Needed if they were to become strong, resourceful, and independent learners.
My thinking hasn’t changed about the 3R’s being fundamental to an education our children will not look back on with regret. The last thing we wanted for our children was for them to feel they were short changed and unprepared for the world they were stepping into. Today though, the 3R’s are under assault. They are being undermined indirectly by the digital media we all access and consume day after day.
Researchers are calling a phenomenon they’re seeing “online brain.” Scientists from some top tier universities met recently to discuss what they see happening. They concluded the internet has altered our minds in three primary ways:
· Our ability to focus has been damaged
· Our ability to interact socially has been compromised
· Our ability to remember things has been degraded
Michael Easton, the author of a book I’m reading titled Scarcity Brain writes about a study in which two groups of students were asked to respond to a set of questions. One group of students had access to all apps on the internet to find the information they were asked to find. The other group was restricted to using a set of encyclopedias.
The outcome of the study was both predicable and surprising. As expected, the group that had access to the internet found the information they needed quickly. The group restricted to the use of encyclopedias only took much longer. Both groups, however, came up with the same answers. But, here’s what surprised the researchers. The internet group, compared to the encyclopedia group, did significantly worse on a test requiring they recall the information they had just found. The researchers concluded the retention difference lie in how the content was obtained. Content that required more effort to get, that was more labor intensive, resulted in greater retention.
Digital media is impacting our ability to think critically, to maintain long periods of sustained concentration, and to respond thoughtfully beyond a short, emotional tweets on “X”.
What can and what do we do about this?
That’s where the new 3 R’s enter the picture. They aren’t intended to replace the old 3 R’s. Rather, they are intended to insure the original 3 R’s do take place and yield the same strong outcomes as in years past. The new 3 R’s are designed to help us rethink our and our children’s use of the internet, social media, and all things digital.
What C.S. Lewis had to say in The Case for Christianity applies here. He wrote:
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it’s pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We’re on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”
Have we taken the wrong road when it comes to our excessive use of digital media? I think so. I’ll have more to say about this and what to do next week.
Thanks for reading,
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
Do you plan on testing next year? Would you like to save $5.00 to $10.00 per student? We’re offering a limited time discount if you sign up and pay for testing now. Offer ends next Friday, December 8th. Register Here.
