I recall a conversation some years ago with a friend who was decrying the state of public education, feeling that her daughter was not getting anything out of it. We also observed that we had similarly disappointing experiences in school and managed to find ways to pursue our intellectual interests on our own. Our ultimate conclusion was "Smart kids find a way."
I was reminded of that conversation reading about "Study Web", a euphemism for the online world of support and connection for studying for school. This comes in many forms but if you want a taste for what it's like try the Strive Studies channel on YouTube. This is essentially just a video of a young woman studying for some number of hours. Students find this motivational in some way, either as a challenge or as company in misery.
What the author refers to as Study Web seems to have four prongs. One is live feeds like the one above. A second is study tips, such as using Pomodoro or Spaced Repetition or Cornell Note Taking. A third is shared encouragement, usually in the form of a forum of some type. A fourth is background music. That last one is especially interesting. It seems something called Lo-fi is all the rage. Back to YouTube for the premiere music resource: Lofi Girl.
The entire article is fascinating. What's most interesting to me, though, is how real these digital and virtual experiences seem to Gen-Z. To me it is an odd idea to feel some kind of connection with a video of another person studying. My reaction is "What good does that do?" I think the problem is that experiences like that are still in the realm of unreality to me. It's existence is a distraction or a source of entertainment. I am reacting as if someone suggested I watch a two-hour movie of someone quietly working at their desk. I am existentially distant from it. Not so for Gen-Z. They must get a much more visceral sensation from it -- the woman on the screen is not a construct designed to elicit a reaction, it's closer to being another actual person in the room and so has a stronger behavioral influence.
I think I can only appreciate this because I, like many, have had to adapt to Zoom meetings as standard, rather than exceptional, communication. For Gen-Z this was always their default.
It makes me wonder whether, were I still a student, I could have benefitted from this sort of thing. Lord knows, the distractions of video games and alcohol and girls were my ultimate downfall, or perhaps a congenitally short attention span that allowed those distractions was. Maybe when I retire I will pick out something to study and be the oldest kid in the chat room, just to see if it works. Hell, maybe I could adapt it to writing fiction. Then you wouldn't have to read my constant griping about how little progress I make.
In any event, it's good to see the latest batch of smart kids has found a way.
