Memorization in the Digital Age

Not sure what this means — Google it!

We are living in a digital age. Arguably more happens online than in person. Many people are living their lives for their Twitter or Instagram followers, but barely speak to their real life family and friends. We live with our phones within reach, if not at our fingertips. With the capacity of modern smartphones, anyone with a phone has the internet available as long as there is wifi or cell service (which in most places). Our world is not one where we need to “know” information anymore, because anything you don’t know you can pick up your phone and search.

If everything can just be searched up on the internet, then what is the purpose or value in knowing information/facts. In schools across our country, students are still being tasked with memorizing a multitude of facts. Students are told there are just “certain things” they need to know.

Schools spend countless hours drilling students to memorize content. Students are called upon to recite dates and definitions. Teachers spend the majority of their teaching time reviewing and reciting content facts to ensure students remember.

These facts students are being asked to memorize are arguably useless if students are just memorizing this information temporarily for the sake of a test and then forgetting it. At the end of the day, it has no applicable purpose in their lives to constitute as memorable. Essentially, the majority of information students learn in high school is memorized to pass certain required examinations to graduate, but then forgotten long term.

Google is the answer to all of our problems. Looking up a definition, or a concept or an equation — just Google it. Search engines, like Google, have the capacity to aggregate answers to any of our question, phrase or word searches. If we can just google it, then why do we waste time in schools pushing students to memorize — other than just to pass some test. Does this not seem like a big waste of students’ and teachers’ time?

Certain people, particularly certain educators, make the argument that there are just “certain facts” that you should know. However, if there is a standard set of basic facts we are all expected to know, then who gets to determine what that knowledge base is. And, I get it, we don’t want a society where people have to take out their device and Google everything all the time, but can’t we think of a better use of students’ learning time than memorization. Students could be learning within context and for a purpose beyond a grade or test.

Student learning is not a matter of what we teach, but how we teach. Students can learn the same thing and not absorb it depending on how it is taught to them. Student engagement throughout the learning process allows students to naturally remember the information. When students have the ability to draw connections to prior knowledge and are able to make sense of the information, they are more likely to internalize the knowledge and remember it.

Teachers should spend more time focusing their curriculum and instruction around skill building. Students need to become strong readers, writers, critical thinkers and also comprehend key mathematical concepts. It is far more important that students know and understand how to find the answer to something they don’t know. Since there is no way for individuals to know all the content (facts), it is a better use of school learning time to teach students how to decipher if a source is valid and reliable. Teachers should simply use the content as a vehicle to practice the skills.

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