Class is back in session and college teacher Bonnie discovers some interesting facts about this generation of students, such as - they don't write in cursive [seriously?] and they don't wear a wristwatch [I know, because whatever handheld device they are using has the time displayed!] Which brings up another question - can they tell time on a real clock with hands? Bonnie even found the teachers take notes on their Blackberry while she was scribbling away on paper.
The latest Mindset List is up to provide insight into the mindset of this generation of college student: It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.
Admittedly, about a lot of the things listed I am completely clueless, but here are a few of my favorites:
- Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
- Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
- They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.
- Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.
- They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day.
- Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.
- Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.
For some reason this song comes to mind, something from my generation, about school and Kodachrome:
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
~Kodacrome by Paul Simon
