Motivation is Key

            Let’s all face reality.  Many studies have shown that our students are spending more time on their computers each day than they are sleeping.  They are on Facebook and tweeting simultaneously and switching back and forth between social networking sites and YouTube.  We as educators try to bring them into the world of academics we are trying to create and implement into their lives.  However, it is starting to look like we should take a different approach in motivating our students.

            

            I would argue that students are more comfortable with the layout and functions of Facebook than they are with the operation of Microsoft Word.  So why do we insist on making them write a 3-page double spaced paper once a week using Microsoft Word.  While these programs were designed to make the process of writing easier, it can sometimes hinder the performance of a student.  Students write and have to worry about formatting, page length, font, alignment and much more.  This added stress depreciates the value of their content and even more important, their creativity.  Microsoft Word is just the medium a student has to express their thought, but so is Facebook. 

            Now I know what you are thinking.  “Tony, you’re crazy!  You can’t tell them to go on Facebook for homework.”  However, if we were to take a typical Microsoft Word assignment, and incorporate it into a medium they are comfortable using such as Facebook, all of their stresses of writing would fade away.  I suspect we would see much better quality writing and much more creativity.  Not only this, but I imagine the students would all enjoy writing through a medium like this more.

            

       Having said all of this, it is important that the assignment given to the students still has some structure.  Boromir, from Lord of the Rings says it best:

        

He is correct.  If the assignment is not purposeful, students will get distracted or not gain anything from it.  Their writing should satisfy the assignment’s underlying intent.  This is the responsibility of the teacher.  What do you want your students to get out of the assignment?  Are you trying to gain an understanding of their knowledge of a topic?  The assignment should not be blindly thrown together because you think it is easy.  Thoughtful and creative assignments are great, but ones that also impact the student by challenging them to critically think and problem solve are the ones that stay with them for a lifetime.