The Age of Speed -- Part Two

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've finished reading The Age of Speed by Vince Poscente, a study on the role of speed in our society and a plea for people to not simply dismiss speed as a negative, but to harness speed for those things which can make our lives more satisfying and productive.

How many times have we implored a student to slow down, implying that their work could be so much more precise by taking their time rather than racing through a project or activity? Certainly I have done that many times, and there are no doubt many situations when this is an appropriate reminder. However, are there times in the classroom when we should be encouraging speed? Are there situations which require us to model speed or demonstrate techniques which will increase the speed of a task, thereby leaving more time for other activities? It seems to me that there should be this recognition that speed, under certain circumstances and within certain boundaries, isn't inherently a negative attribute. For instance, helping students build effective searching techniques when using sites like Google or Ask.com is a process which can help improve both speed and accuracy. If appropriate resources can be identified quickly and accurately and a skill set might be developed to facilitate this process, why not embrace speed! A similar discussion relates to the ongoing debate about the use of calculators in math classes. As long as a student understands the underlying concepts behind math functions, why not embrace a technology tool to carry out repetitive mathematics tasks.

So when should speed not be encouraged? Here are a couple thoughts:

• Speed should not be encouraged when there is a creative process in an area of passion or interest, such as in art, music, science, etc. All of us work in different ways and at different paces. Pressure for speed will typically not bring about a more satisfying end result.
• Speed should not be encouraged simply for the sake of speed. Poscente's central thesis is that we should not disparage speed without discernment, but the unstated antithesis is that neither should we embrace speed without examining its value in a particular activity.
• Speed should not be encourages when there is not a core understanding of a concept or process. See above for some examples of this.

I'll add some final thoughts about speed in a future post.

Do you agree with these conclusions? Disagree? Have another perspective? Feel free to share your thoughts as a comment to this post.