ED4134 Week One: Digital Natives V Digital Immigrants

During our Week One tutorial, we were simply introduced into the course outline for Information Technology for Teaching and Learning. After developing a sound understanding of the Unit, we were able to begin our basis of understanding of ICT in teaching. Through this, we were able to explore the concepts of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants- a completely new notion of ICT in which I had never heard of- yet allowed me to grasp greater concepts as to how it impacts on Education of the future. I found this information- beneficial and interestingly vital in aiding my studies as a student teacher. A mind map of this information gained may be referenced to in my Inspiration file-> debate-digital-natives-v1 

Firstly, students have transformed significantly and drastically throughout eras thus previous students of old methodologies are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach. Students of today’s techno-savvy lifestyle are growing up with revolutionized equipment that they have spent their entire lives primarily immersed in- which even their former generations have never utilized. This is evidently present in my family household as both my parents frequently inquire about technology based mechanisms such as the computer and mobile phone functions. In this respect, I am referred to as a “Digital Native” (as I was born between1980 and 1994) and my parents are “Digital Immigrants” as they were born before 1980. 

As researchers insinuate that Digital Immigrants require the adoption of new styles and methods of teaching incorporating the use of technology, there are problems in coordinating digital immigrants to become skilled at the means of implementing technology. Prensky (2001) believes that many “digital immigrants don’t believe their students can learn successfully while watching tv or listening to music, because they (the digital immigrants) can’t”.  However as our Digital Natives were raised into a technological based world, this ability is capable. Morover, many Digital Immigrants deem learning to be most successful through hands-on experiences with real-life materials that instigate children to develop abstract scientific and mathematical concepts. It is critical for the development of imagination and creative problem solving skills, thus – applying methods of learning such as ‘play’ rather than implementing the use of technology is predominantly preferred. However, Tapscott (1998) believes “there is a growing appreciation that the old approach (of teaching) is ill-suited to the intellectual, social, motivational and emotional needs of the new generation.”  

On the other hand, to focus primarily on technological means of constructing learning can suggest that individuals less interested and less competent will be abandoned and neglected and the influence of socio-economic and cultural factors will be overlooked. Alas, whilst I agree that students should have access to technology within the classroom, I also agree with Bennets statement that “Digital Natives”(Prensky, 2001) do not appear to think significantly dissimilar to previous generations and the concept that they are more familiar with technology then their predecessors- their actual thought processes and learning styles have not “changed radically”(Prensky, 2001). It would be ignorant to completely rule out that older generations are somewhat incapable of being educated and learning to confidently use existing technologies.  

Conclusively, I believe that times are changing and educators need to implement and employ new means of educating their students. Without relying solely on technology based teaching, implementing some interactive and developed means of teaching and learning styles would be beneficial. However changes to teaching in educational institutes should be considered thoroughly before being implemented, as it would affect a broad spectrum of both Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants in finding a comfortable medium between traditional methodologies and new technologies.

After searching the internet for useful resources to demonstrate the evolution of Digital Immigrants to Digital Natives, i found two interesting videos on YouTube.

The first video portrays the evolution of Technology and Teaching from the 1930’s methodologies, present day and age- to future generations: Evolution of Technology and Teaching

The second video effectively displays the juxtaposition of new-aged technological advances dominanting and permeating todays current societal views on technology presents and continuous progression: Evolution of Technology – HQ (Saturn Commercial). 

Week One Reflective Questions;

Which learning style/s does this ICT support? This form of ICT supports visual learners who prefer information expressed in a creative manner that involves graphs, images, colours and a variety of fonts to aid memory.

How could this ICT be implemented as a good cognitive tool within the learning environment?Students could be asked to express the information they find on a particular topic as a visual display using Inspiration. This allows the students to communicate the information in a creative way that causes them to make connections between ideas in the mind map.

How is this ICT enabling the development of creativity?This ICT incorporates design as the students are responsible for the layout of the data. Also, it uses a variety of fonts, colours and images. When using Inspiration students can also upload music, videos and games that are related to the subject that may enhance learning.

Reference:

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, v. 9, n. 5, 1- 6. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

A Sounclip that reminds me of this reflection is Technologic