I was intrigued by the video "A Vision of Students Today," which happens to be this week's video of the week.  For obvious reasons the "statistics" amazed me.  Today's kids actually get 26+ hours of "stuff" done in a 24-hour day!  I was listening to the EdTechTalk chat the other night and found that I could not follow what everyone was saying because I was too busy reading the written chat.  But, the kids in this video would be listening to the presenters, reading the chat, IM-ing their friends, talking on the phone and watching TV all at the same time.  What is wrong with me?!?

Then I started thinking...as educators, how do we handle this?  Do we discourage this type of multi-tasking and teach our students how to focus on one thing?  They can't possibly be paying complete attention to ALL those tasks.  But, can we really change that?  And, do we want to? 

So, since today's students will clearly multi-task for the rest of their lives (bold statement, I know, but I can't see it any other way), the question I have is, how do we help them succeed when they our spreading their attention so thin?
EDIT 10/20/07 - Just read an interesting article that talks about TEACHING multitasking.  Seems to focus more on older students, but interesting nonetheless:

I have been thinking a lot about how to "get around" the requirement of many excellent online resources that an account (with valid e-mail address) be submitted.

We do not give our students school e-mail addresses, and many of them do not have personal e-mail addresses (which I don't allow them to access anyway).  So, how can I have them sign up to collaborate on a Google Presentation or create an Animoto video?

Some of these resources do not require that users "validate" their e-mail address, so I thought about having them "make one up" just to enter in the field.  But, then I grapple with the ethics of that; how can I require them to lie?  What kind of precedent is that setting?

I am thinking about using Gaggle's monitored e-mail service
as an option.  Are there any other similar services/resources out there?  Please do share!

I just came across a new (to me) Web 2.0 resource called Voicethread.  My first thought was, "How or why would I use this with students?!?"  Then, I looked at how some other people have used it, and the wheels started turning.  Take a look at these examples:

1. Book report - nice way for teachers to provide asynchronous feedback verbally.  Especially good for those students who are more "auditory" learners and don't read comments written on projets.

2. Chapter review - This teacher-driven strategy is great because students can comment and ask questions through this tool.  Better yet, have students create their own chapter review.

3. Alphabet book - This is particularly cool because it encourages true collaboration of site visitor to add to the content of this "book."

4. Photo album - I had to include this one...it's a friend's photo album from a trip to Europe she took.  This is WAY easier than making an actual photo album, especially for the "creatively challenged" who have no clue how to scrapbook!

Any other ideas?  Please share!!

Added 10/25/2007 - Take a look at Wes Fryer's wiki "Great Book Stories," and click on the "Listen and See" link for a cool use of Voicethread.

So far I am pretty impressed with Weebly.  It is user friendly, and has quite a few options to allow students to make a great website.  I wish students could upload their own videos instead of having to use YouTube or Google Videos, but you can't have it all!

I have not published this site yet, but I'm hoping it will be ad-free!  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.