Week 4- Digital Natives Versus Digital Immigrants

“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (Prensky, 2001 p. 1).

Marc Prensky writes in his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants about the differences in today’s generations.  I have heard these terms, digital natives/immigrants, used before although never quite like how Marc Prensky described them.

It’s peculiar to realize that today’s students K through college represent the first generation to grow up with this new technology of “computers, videogames, digital music players, videos cams, cell phones”, among other digital devices. Not that I was surprised to read that today’s average college graduates have spent les that 5,00 hours of their lives reading, which is a scary thought, but easily over 10,000 hours playing video or computer games. It’s say to admit that I may as well also be included in this demographic.  Digital technology and media are integral parts of our society’s lives. Now- a- days it’s nearly impossible to have a phone plan without data or a smart phone at all!

So what does this all mean? It means that unlike ever before educators have to be come students of their students.  This has always been true, but educators are in need of realizing that “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (Prensky, 2001 p. 1). According to Prensky, Bruce D. Perry of Baylor College of Medicine claims that student’s brains have physically changed and are different than those who did not grow up since infancy with digital technology. These students are classified as Digital Natives and are “native speakers” when it comes to technology. They are quick to learn and quicker to adjust than digital natives who are learning the technological advances of today as adults.

This article was very eye opening for me as I have caught myself having some of the “digital immigrant accent.” I still prefer to print out an article, email, syllabus so that I can physically highlight and feel the paper for myself. Yes of course you can highlight on the computer screen, but there is something different about doing it with our own hands!

One thing I must remember that the students presently are used to immediate responses, fast feedback, and receiving information incredibly quickly. I can’t name one student of mine who goes to the library to look for information for a project. Why should they when they can save the time, effort, and frustration and ask Siri to look up an article for them? Students “thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to ‘serious’ work” (Prensky, 2001 p. 2).

Teachers need to jump on board because at this point, there is no going backwards. Methodology of teaching, connecting and empathizing with students are different, and display and application of content must be done atypically. Educators must go faster, allow for less “step-by-step” and more parallel, and allow more random access rather than have things done in a chronological way. This is stressful as there is so much knowledge to teach, little time to teach that knowledge in, and structured lessons s the only way to sift through and select the most important material.

               

             In closing, even the most brilliant of teachers cannot compete with the rapid enhancement of technology and the world wide data base that is being developed more each day.  Educators must learn how to partner with technology so that they can not only provide students the knowledge the need to success, but also capture and engage them in the classroom.