Here’s a little inferencing question. Any guess as to what 3 items I’m describing? (The answer key is below).
- Circle, spin, music
- Rectangle, record, T.V.
- Quarter, call, black
Did you guess record player, VHS tape and pay phone?
Would our students even know this?
How about: rapid, powerful, game changing?
Technology!
Technology changes everything! Gone are the days of pay phones, type writers and cassette tapes. Even CDs, landlines, answering machines and old style calculators are slowly retreating as everything becomes sleek and digitized.
How does that translate to our assessment of our students’ vocabulary knowledge?
Of course, this points to the critical need to keep our vocabulary tests up to date. In addition, as we assess our students, we must always analyze the entire picture by including informal measures and thoughtful observations. We must remember that…
- Perhaps they don’t have a landline at home and have only seen cell phones.
- Maybe some parents ask Siri to multiply 210 x 9 (random, I know) and they don’t have an “old school” calculator at home.
- Do kids see cash or plastic means of payment?
Have you seen technological shifts impact your students’ vocabulary knowledge? What words do you think will fade away and become dusty with disuse?
2 Comments
Oh yes! As a retired SLP, I have witnessed the dramatic change in vocabulary in my career over time. The fastest change has definitely been since the 1990’s.
Such a great observation, Dean! There has definitely been a huge shift since the 90’s! Thank you for sharing your perspective on this!