For digital natives, the students in high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools, the use of technology is second nature. Digital natives need face-paced visual and auditory stimulation to peak their interest and allow learning to seep into their brain.
Digital natives have a short attention span, as digital immigrants often believe. They are used to multi-tasking and receiving information quickly. Digital immigrants tend to teach things in a step-by-step basis which digital natives from boring.
One article that stands out is Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky (Prensky, 2001) copyright 2001. I found it interesting that digital immigrants tend to teach using ordered tasks, written instructions and learning objectives whereas digital natives would learn better with a computer game that was fast-paced and had allowed random access.
Prensky discussed in his article that many if not all subjects could be geared toward successfully teaching digital natives with a little work and a willingness to change our way of teaching methodologies.
The textbook points out that digital natives’ parents are realizing the importance of utilizing emerging technologies in the classrooms and insisting that teachers incorporate technology into their curriculum. (Shelly, Gunter, & Gunter, 2010) They are seeing the need for their children to have the best exposure to technology in school because it will help them succeed in their future. If we think technology is all around us now image what will be available in our elementary schools’ children when they are our age. The possibilities are endless.
We, as digital immigrants must not only get onboard with using technology in our curriculum but we must find a way to become captains of technology in the classroom. This is not just for our students but also for us; we need to find it important to continue our learning as well. The price we pay for convenience could be too high.
Digital natives have a short attention span, as digital immigrants often believe. They are used to multi-tasking and receiving information quickly. Digital immigrants tend to teach things in a step-by-step basis which digital natives from boring.
One article that stands out is Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky (Prensky, 2001) copyright 2001. I found it interesting that digital immigrants tend to teach using ordered tasks, written instructions and learning objectives whereas digital natives would learn better with a computer game that was fast-paced and had allowed random access.
Prensky discussed in his article that many if not all subjects could be geared toward successfully teaching digital natives with a little work and a willingness to change our way of teaching methodologies.
The textbook points out that digital natives’ parents are realizing the importance of utilizing emerging technologies in the classrooms and insisting that teachers incorporate technology into their curriculum. (Shelly, Gunter, & Gunter, 2010) They are seeing the need for their children to have the best exposure to technology in school because it will help them succeed in their future. If we think technology is all around us now image what will be available in our elementary schools’ children when they are our age. The possibilities are endless.
We, as digital immigrants must not only get onboard with using technology in our curriculum but we must find a way to become captains of technology in the classroom. This is not just for our students but also for us; we need to find it important to continue our learning as well. The price we pay for convenience could be too high.
Works Cited
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon , 9 (5).
Shelly, G. B., Gunter, G. A., & Gunter, R. E. (2010). Teachers Discovering Computers Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. In G. B. Shelly, G. A. Gunter, R. E. Gunter, & P. Conrad (Ed.), Teachers Discovering Computers Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston, MA, 02210.
Chrystal,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you answered the question by describing digital immigrants and digital natives. You noted that the parents of digital natives are “realizing the importance of utilizing emerging technologies.” I think that teaching using these technologies will increase in the upcoming years as more digital natives become parents and teachers. I feel like my generation is an age group of transition. I do not categorize myself as a digital native like my 8 year students are, but I also do not think I am an immigrant like my parents who had to learn all these technologies as they were invented. I even see a significant difference between my older sister’s generation and my generation. Even though she is just 7 years older than me, we grew up with very different technologies. My family bought our first computer when I was in elementary school and purchased the old dial-up soon after it was introduced to the public. I used it in elementary and middle school regularly, and I can’t even imagine how I could have conducted all my research and gone through high school without it. My sister was already in high school when our family and schools started using it regularly, so she really did not become familiar with it until she was already almost an adult. Because of these important differences that took place within just a few short years, I believe (and hope) that now that my transition generation is gaining a more predominant role in the Education field, we will soon be teaching with the fast-paced technology based lessons you described, and we will be doing what is best for our students. Thanks for your insight in this blog, and let me know if you agree that it will soon change!
Christie