The days of preparing children for fields and factories are past. It is good to know that our educational leaders around the world are exploring and implementing the strategies and technologies utilized in the new economy.

The notion of employing UTC/GMT syncing with Latitude and Longitude- via realtime telephony (cellphones today)- has been an interest of mine since graduate days at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, focusing and in earnest from 1970 to now. Publicly since 1969 we have seen more exhilarating images of our water planet from satellites, radio and Hubble telescopes. Extraterrestrial ears have and are opened and are resounding anew with the ongoing participatory SETI Home contributions. My aim is to begin realtime assembling of Global’s soundtracks, terrestrially and in context, exterrestrially. That’s the “soundtrack” (and artifacts) I’m immensely interested to hear to accompany the vast quantity of visuals.

Motivation for a New Approach to Teaching and Learning

The level and degree of visual entertainment distractions in America today greatly complicate the adolescent learning process. Technology and the Internet have changed the way students’ brains are wired, subsequently the way they think and learn. Short attention spans and multitasking is common because students are used to always being “on” and connected. Incorporating mass media and social media into the classroom will reduce anxiety, enhance student engagement, and increase understanding. Complex subjects particularly difficult to teach in light of the arduous distraction barriers of the media and the Internet. The prevailing opinion that math, science, history, and English are dull and unrelated to “real-life” forces them into a second place position when competing with pop culture. Consequently, rather than compete with the appeal and relevance of pop culture, why not use them as a means of inducing students.

This oil and water mixture is merely a call-to-action for an interactive and innovative approach to curriculum development and instruction. PopLearning is the intersection of popular culture and education. The PopLearning curriculum provides an interactive learning format that infuses students’ daily instruction with popular culture to engage students. The PopLearning pedagogy is embedded through four pillars of popular culture: technology, the internet, mass media, and social media. This innovative approach provides stimulating activities to engage students, while concepts scaffold to bridge the gap between the content and students’ daily lives.

The PopLearning approach to curriculum development and instruction is not a “pop culture curriculum” whose chapters and lessons are heavily decorated with pop culture references and with only a few sprinklings of concepts. Rather, PopLearning bridges the divide between education and pop culture so that they complement each other. The strategies and techniques that are found within the PopLearning curriculum provide the teacher with practical and ground-breaking techniques for teaching and provide the student with an innovative and interactive method for learning.

PopLearning is not another reform to solve all of educations’ pitfalls only to be replaced a short time later with the “next big thing”. Such reforms are simply a panacea; the “latest” and “greatest” remedy that is brought into town by the medicine man that sparks mass hysteria with his quick tongue and persuasion skills. Instead, PopLearning will combine the expertise from some of education’s most renowned philosophers and the findings from contemporary researchers, and applies it to the unique learning styles of today’s students.

Today’s Youth

Generation Z. The NetGen. The iTeach Generation. Generation. The Digital Generation. The iPod Generation. The Screenager Generation. The Millennials. The Internet Generation.

Whatever you want to call them, there is no denying the fact that today’s students think and learn differently than the previous generations before them. To deny this generation an education tailored to their specific learning styles is to deny the future a generation of adults who have not lived up to their potential. According to Don Tapscott, one of the entrepreneur’s behind the recent effort to highlight the unique characteristics of today’s youth, states, “With their reflexes tuned to speed and freedom these empowered young people are beginning to transform every institution of modern life. From the workplace to the marketplace, from politics to education to the basic unit of any society, the family, they are replacing a culture of control with a cultural of enablement” (Tapscott, 2009, p6).

Think of someone you know born after 1982. Chances are these following characteristics describe them:
• They price freedom and freedom of choice
• They want to customize things and make them their own
• They’re natural collaborators who enjoy a conversation, not a lecture
• They’ll scrutinize you and your organization.
• They insist on integrity
• They want to have fun, even at work and at school
• Speed is normal
• Innovation is part of life (Tapscott, 2009, p6-7)

In addition, of today’s youth:
• 97% own a computer
• 97% have downloaded music or other media using file sharing
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% author a blog and44% read blogs
(http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Generation-Y)

What can we conclude? 99.9% of the activities that today’s youth are involved in are interactive and provide immediate information and/or feedback. This is why it is important for educators to transform from the “sage on the stage” and “guide on the side” to the “interactive instructor”. Understanding today’s youth is the best way to understand how they think and learn; and, more importantly, how to increase their understanding.

One Solution is…. Popular Culture

Anyone who has even been in a classroom knows the delicate balance that exists between student engagement and student disruptions. In order to get and keep students engaged, educators must first hook students into the lesson then activate their prior knowledge so that they can connect it to what they already know.

Technology and the Internet are essential components in today’s society. In fact, technology and the Internet are the two main avenues which popular culture is delivered to the society.
Ever listen to music? Watch a movie or TV show? Read a magazine or book? These are all examples of mass media, one of the elements of popular culture. Ever been on (or heard of) Facebook? YouTube? Twitter? These are all examples of social media, a second element of popular culture. From blogs, wikis, RSS feeds to Flickr, podcasts, YouTube and everything in between, the influence of pop culture is cannot be argued.

With popular culture playing such a significant role in our society, it naturally makes sense to integrate it into our classrooms. Unfortunately, youth popular culture, a division of mainstream popular culture, is often foreign and intimidating to educators. For this reason, most do not incorporate it into their classrooms.

If the solution to the balancing student engagement and students disruptions is by hooking students into the lesson and then linking it to their prior knowledge, then the key to keeping this delicate balance is using PopLearning which incorporated elements from pop culture into the classroom.

Popular Culture? Really?

It is argued that an “achievement gap” exists between socioeconomically disadvantaged youth and their more advantaged counterparts. Countless studies and numerous reforms exist to help close this ever- increasing gap. These studies and reforms suggest that one of the reasons why this gap exists is because these two groups think and learn differently from each other. One of the main commonalties between these two groups is: popular culture.

Technology and the Internet have changed the way students’ brains are wired, subsequently the way they think and learn. Short attention spans and multitasking is common because students are constantly “on” and connected. Incorporating mass media and social media into the classroom will reduce anxiety, enhance student engagement, and increase understanding.

It is through the four pillars of pop culture: technology, the internet, mass media and social media that students will be provided with an interactive learning format. This innovative approach provides stimulating activities to engage students, while concepts scaffold to bridge the gap between content and students’ daily lives.

• Technology

Twenty years ago “technology in the classroom” meant using a chalkboard and a four-function calculator. Ten years ago “technology in the classroom” meant using an overhead, using a graphing calculator, and showing a movie on VCR to deliver a lesson. Five years ago “technology in the classroom” meant using a computer, giving PowerPoint lessons, sending an email, and showing a movie on DVD. Today “technology in the classroom” means using a Smartboard, using a graphing calculator and laptop, sending a text, and using an iPod to deliver the lesson.
Like anyone else, students need to connect with the material in order to truly understand it. It naturally makes sense to incorporate technology in the classroom because it plays such a heavy role in our world today.

• The Internet

With the 40th anniversary of the Internet approaching, it is impossible to deny the impact it has had on our world. From how we work to where we work, from with whom we interact and how we interact with them, the Internet has transformed every facet our daily lives. The potential of the Internet is limitless; and this is just the beginning of the revolution. Since students instinctively turn to the Internet to communicate, find information, and do many other things, why not incorporate it in the classroom as well and tap into the limitless world of knowledge it has to offer?

• Mass Media

A classic “generation gap” has developed between students and education stakeholders. The culture that most teachers, administrators, and educators were brought up in was different, to say the least. This major generational gap exists because elders consider this new culture threatening. It is something they do not fully understand. Proponents of traditional media are skeptical towards this new media and the incredible effect it could have. In addition, the speed at which students interact with it and gain an understanding of it also intimidates these elders.

It is only natural to fear what is not understood. However, the power that Mass Media could have on education is unlimited and priceless. Television, movies, digital print and music captivates the interest of today’s youth because they relate it to their own interests and are often interactive. Utilizing mass media in the classroom will help reduce anxiety and enable students to connect complex concepts to their own daily lives.

• Social Media

Incorporating social media into the classroom may seem in appropriate as its impact is often misunderstood. In order to hold the attention of today’s youth they must be able to collaborate with each other, receive immediate feedback, and interact with information. Social media is built upon these features. Utilizing it will make students feel like they are in control of their education.

To deny this generation an education that is tailored to their specific learning styles is to deny the future a generation of adults that have not lived up to their potential. This is why it is so important that we revolutionize how teachers are teaching because students are not learning in the most effective manner. Utilizing the PopLearning approach to curriculum development and instruction will provide students with a learning environment that effectively builds 21st century skills