The first issue is the lack of adaptation from adults. If education is supposed to cater to kids, it is the responsibility of educators to adapt to the new generation, whether it be culturally or technologically. Many adults are still under the misconception that "I learned X this way, so why can't the children today also do the same", but this idea is extremely unproductive in the context of improving the current system of education. With the culture that our youth are immersed in today, it would take a lot more resources to retain the old system by combating the pervasive cultural effects on the current generation rather than embracing them in our efforts to educate them.

The second issue is the idea that the usage of technology should be risk averse because potential of students becoming distracted is worse than not utilizing the technology in the first place. The general consensus in the progressive community of educators is that teachers need to be educated about the new technologies or media that their students interact in. Multiple studies that disprove the effectiveness of technology in schools fail to account for disinterested teachers and school districts, and instead focus on how the technology itself hasn't demonstrated any benefit. Instead of focusing solely on introducing new and latest technology into the classroom, some of the resources should be diverted towards professional development for educators to learn how to gain the maximum utility from the devices and help them better interact with students.





Interest-Driven Learning

While adults stigmatizing new ideologies has been a consistent cultural pattern, the concept of interest-driven learning is fairly new. One anecdote from Mimi Ito's lecture: "Facebook is a collection of people you went to school with. Tumblr is a collection of people you wish you went to school with." Sites like Tumblr and Reddit allow users to categorize their online interaction by interest with an unprecedented accessibility that has allowed many young members to discover and grow their unique self-identities. A member of the Carnegie Mellon University administration pointed out an observation that each freshman class in the last few years seems more self-aware than the last, not in their decisions regarding the future, but rather their passions and interests that they wish to foster at the university with their time and independence. Mimi Ito speaks at length about the growth of these communities and how the education system can leverage this self-awareness and connect it to academic achievement.

In one of her studies, Mimi Ito examines the Nintendo franchise Pokemon to show the levels of social and intellectual complexity young students can attain. Young members were navigating through the diverse world in the game, optimizing their team, adapting to challenges, and connecting with friends. This combination of engagement, complexity, and interactivity exploded into trading cards, national competitions and television shows and other media to draw in young members. Many adults in their 20s and 30s still fondly remember their initial foray into the Pokemon world and can probably name more Pokemon and facts from the world than what they learned an entire year in Biology class.