Dumb and Dumber

As I continue, to read "Generation Digitial" by Kathryn C. Montgomery, I have begun to feel more and more like this:

Yes, a little bit like dumb and dumber. After reading chapters 4 and 5 which deal with privacy online and how marketers are utilizing technology to advertise to teens, I actually feel a bit dirty and violated. A number of things stuck out to me in these chapters, but I am going to address just three.

Did you know that on almost every website you visit information is being collected about you? I did not, and I was shocked to learn that it was. Chapter 4, titled "Web of Deception," explores how the United States did not do anything to protect the privacy of its citizens, or children, until the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act was passed in 2000. In fact, the United States still has not really passed laws to protect privacy online, instead suggesting that companies and websites act on good faith and develop their own self-regulatory practices. I felt ashamed as I read about sites like KidsCom that had youngsters fill out online surveys in which they divulged a great deal of personal information in exchange for online points which they could use to purchase items such as Power Rangers videos. I felt ignorant when I read about how websites chose to put up links to pages where consumers could choose to "opt out" and not have their information released. As an instructional designer, I started to ponder where those links had been placed. Visiting one of my favorite online retail sites, I saw where designers chose to place the link:
Oh look, how convenient! It's that little link at the very bottom titled "Privacy" which I am sure all buyers think to click on. Really America? Seeing how Europe has taken comprehensive steps to protect privacy and reading about how most websites disclose your information to third party affiliates, I once again felt somewhat embarrassed about being an American.

Another thing that I noticed was how dated the research seems. The book was only published in 2007, and yet the author spent a great deal of time addressing means of communication that are not really utilized by teenagers anymore. She talked a great deal about how teens are creating their own webpages, which is not true, and only spent a few paragraphs addressing social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Those two sites have grown in leaps and bounds in terms of how advertising is targeted at teenagers that use those sites to express themselves individually. I think it clearly illustrates just how fast things are changing in terms of technology.

I became very angry as I read about all of the different ways that advertisers have utilized technology to market products to teenagers: blogs, instant messages, bots, teen websites, iTunes, and mobile devices. If advertisers can see how methods of communication can be used to develop relationships with teenagers, why can't educators? So many teachers at my school site are either too lazy or too reluctant to use any of these modes in the classroom. Since we already know our students are digitally wired, why not use that to our advantage? Imagine if a student was downloading the Oregon Trail videogame on their ITouch or IPhone instead of an application that creates a sound grenade. I feel as though too many educators are dropping the ball by not incorporating these things into the classroom environment.