Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

dgn.dgim.jpg

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

By Marc Prensky

Is our education system failing us? Do we need to spend more money on education?  Or have we failed to evolve our system to match the needs our today’s student? Let’s continue the digital immigrant metaphor. Can you really blame a immigrant for not being able to adjust into a new culture quickly? The life they grew up with and identified with is not the norm in the new culture they live it. The language is very different, the natives seem to all understand each other so well, but they speak all these strange words that the immigrant doesn’t have any background knowledge in. With so many new words, phrases, and processes, the immigrant might feel inclined to give up at the enormity of the task of acclimating themselves. The immigrants who grew up in the culture and language can function without even processing on what is going on around them. But although they are fluent in the language, its quite another thing to try and explain it to an immigrant. I believe anyone who has tried to explain grammar to a non-native English speaker understands that challenge.

Since our children are growing up surrounded by TV, video games, Internet, and smart phones, they have spent fewer and fewer hours reading actual books. All this technology that surrounds them are a given or the reality. While many of adults might marvel at the power and potential of technology, our children know nothing else. Studies suggest that the brains of the “digital natives” actually work differently than the “immigrants.” Most teachers today are still immigrants, and often struggle to adapt the teaching techniques to work for the today’s students. Many teachers may go so far as projecting the idea or even “believe learning can’t or shouldn’t be fun.” (Prensky, 2001, p.3) There should be a step by step, methodical process humans should go through to learn the necessary skills for life. Afterall, isn’t that how most people have learned for generations? “But that assumption is no longer valid. Today's learners are different.” It appears that their brains are actually different. (Prensky, 2001, p.3) Students today no longer naturally focus on one thing until they complete it. The “digital natives” brain parallel processes and multi-tasks. The author believes it key that teachers do our best to understand our students and how they can learn best.  

We as educators need to be much more proactive in adjusting our methodology that considers parallel thinking and random access. Though education may take on a different appearance, it doesn’t me replace what is important for our students to learn. Prensky suggests that we use our “digital natives” to actually guide us into creating new methodologies for all subjects in order to best teach in ways that our students can learn through. “Its dumb and lazy of educators to presume that digital natives must learn the way the digital immigrants learned, not to mention ineffectual” (Prensky, 2001, p.6)

References

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. S.l.: Marc Prensky.

Article Reflection

Title: Navigating Social Networks as Learning Tools

Author: Will Richardson

We as a society are just beginning to break into this new world in which, with the aid of technology, we can do things together globally. The possibilities are exciting, revolutionizing our methods in education. But dangers are ever present, our students and children commonly search through the endless amounts of information, opinions, propaganda, and social networks without the assistance of educators or even parents. They are not being educated in its proper use or need for caution.  The internet world of their parents and teachers was one of passive search and retrieval of information, now they have a “read/write” relationship anyone that potentially cross their digital paths. These same children and teenagers are able to produce fairly sophisticated products such as video to be posted online to a much greater ability that the majority of adults. Our young people are interacting in a vast world of “internet connections” that generate a whole new style of classroom and learning, in which anyone can become a student of another who might share similar passions.

This online 24 hour collaboration has led to a major “tectonic shift” in the course of our human existence. All of us who have access to the web are able to learn in groups that reach across cultures, space, and time. All facets of our life are in transition, and our education systems are beginning to feel the change as well. The major issue lies in how far behind the technology curve most educational professionals reside. Many teachers live in a paper world, citing disinterest or lack of time, causing them to remain technology illiterate. The problem is that if we want to “speak our students’ language”, we’ll need to model our passion for learning and developing proper network relationships.

I personally love all the possibilities the internet has to offer to education. But I think we really need to lay out on the table all the dangers and problems that exist. As we put more of ourselves out on the internet, checking ourselves in places on Facebook, and tagging locations can put the wrong kind of information into the hands of people who don’t have the right motivations. Parents who may not have the full understanding of the type of direction their children need, tend to let the internet do the babysitting. Using the internet for entertainment purposes can develop into harmful and addictive behavior. I believe that we need to work collaboratively, schools, communities, and families to brainstorm how we can educate our children, keep them safe, and use the amazing potential of the internet to revolutionize how we do school.