Based on Prensky’s descriptions, I am a digital immigrant.
I was born in 1970 and the very first Apple computer I saw was when I was seven and in the 2nd grade. It took up half the table it rested on and the monitor was thick and the screen only black and white. I never saw it again after that year - but its very existence foretold a future I am now living. From Atari's Pong, to the introduction of Cable TV, technology has grown leaps and bounds in my time. I started teaching when grade books were still in print, but by the time I left the classroom in 1999, they had been moved over to a database and email addresses were distributed to the staff.
I have never been drawn to technology. I never enjoyed video games - albeit a game of Pong hooked up to our mammoth TV killed the void on a hot summer day. My brain has been wired to learn in a linear fashion. For that I am thankful. Because studies show, the brain learns better that way. These digital natives, of which I have five of my own, their brains are quickly becoming wired in a way we have yet to fully grasp the impacts. Dr. Gary Small has released studies on the impact of technology use on the teen brain and the results are disturbing. Multitasking is a reality, but it's not good. Split attention, distracted focus, those are the words being used to describe the impact that digital media use is having on our natives. What happened to delayed gratification and perseverance? Two very important higher order thinking skills today's kindergartners lack.
Equipped to teach the “digital natives”?
Honestly, I'm not fully equipped - at least not yet - to teach "digital natives" in a classroom. I think technology pedagogy is evolving and many of us have yet to identify what that means for our content, our approach to learning and our students in the classroom. I question the efficacy of what Prensky suggests Digital immigrant teachers need to do in order to teach these natives. The fact is, the data is inconclusive on technology's ability to produce better leaners and more knowledgable human beings. If anything, what we're seeing are lackadaisical, impertinent, uncommunicative, depressed and flailing young adults. I suggest you read the book, Screen Schooled - it was published in 2017 (much more recent than Prensky's 2001 diatribe) by two seasoned teachers, Joe Clement, and Matt Mileson on the impact of digital use on students in the classroom as seen firsthand. I'm not a Luddite, I know technology is ingratiated in our culture and way of living. But I think what needs to be taught is an awareness of how technology impacts our learning, our ability to relate emphatically, to tackle adversity and more importantly thrive.
Steps toward learning the “language” of multimedia.
I think it is necessary to learn the language of multimedia in order to communicate on a level learners can relate whether via video, images or text. However, for learning to be seamless from teacher to student - there needs to be an understanding on the learner's part too. The best thing we can do is not just adapt, but recognize where and why we need to adapt our teaching methods for our learners. Knowing how we learn and how technology changes the structure of the brain is worth teaching. I think the first step is to breakdown multimedia as a tool that we use to get knowledge so we can create new knowledge.
Steps toward keeping students safe from undesirable social video content.
Trying to protect students online is a mammoth job. School districts install malware, filters and software like GoGuardian that restrict students from accessing certain areas of the Internet and undesirable social content and if they do, alerts administration providing opportunities to discuss and evaluate the situation with the student. I like the opportunities video offers to support learning. And now that YouTube has developed an 'educational' channel, the volume of instructional materials available to teachers and learners is vast. Which makes it all the more necessary to structure the usage and put parameters in place - like converting a YouTube video to another format for viewing.
But what I would really like to see in schools across the nation is a more cohesive plan to teaching Digital Citizenship. This past spring, I spent time with a TIS at a Blue Valley High School and was disappointed to find their Digital Citizenship program was designed for completion over a 6 week period primarily just so the school could roll out the devices to students. I don't think Digital Citizenship is a class you can pass once and never have to encounter again. It's a lifestyle and if it's not infused throughout all of learning, students will never adapt nor adopt it. There's a group based out of Overland Park, KS, called STaRT, Stand Together and Rethink Technology that is bringing awareness to school communities of the negative impacts of technology on kids physical, mental and emotional health. I think parents are asking schools for justification and reassurance that technology use in schools is structured and meaningful. Because the reality is kids spend more than half their day on a device. Embracing Digital Citizenship is a step in the right direction toward managing technology use and constructing a culture of digital users who recognize, respect, value and celebrate our humanity.
I was born in 1970 and the very first Apple computer I saw was when I was seven and in the 2nd grade. It took up half the table it rested on and the monitor was thick and the screen only black and white. I never saw it again after that year - but its very existence foretold a future I am now living. From Atari's Pong, to the introduction of Cable TV, technology has grown leaps and bounds in my time. I started teaching when grade books were still in print, but by the time I left the classroom in 1999, they had been moved over to a database and email addresses were distributed to the staff.
I have never been drawn to technology. I never enjoyed video games - albeit a game of Pong hooked up to our mammoth TV killed the void on a hot summer day. My brain has been wired to learn in a linear fashion. For that I am thankful. Because studies show, the brain learns better that way. These digital natives, of which I have five of my own, their brains are quickly becoming wired in a way we have yet to fully grasp the impacts. Dr. Gary Small has released studies on the impact of technology use on the teen brain and the results are disturbing. Multitasking is a reality, but it's not good. Split attention, distracted focus, those are the words being used to describe the impact that digital media use is having on our natives. What happened to delayed gratification and perseverance? Two very important higher order thinking skills today's kindergartners lack.
Equipped to teach the “digital natives”?
Honestly, I'm not fully equipped - at least not yet - to teach "digital natives" in a classroom. I think technology pedagogy is evolving and many of us have yet to identify what that means for our content, our approach to learning and our students in the classroom. I question the efficacy of what Prensky suggests Digital immigrant teachers need to do in order to teach these natives. The fact is, the data is inconclusive on technology's ability to produce better leaners and more knowledgable human beings. If anything, what we're seeing are lackadaisical, impertinent, uncommunicative, depressed and flailing young adults. I suggest you read the book, Screen Schooled - it was published in 2017 (much more recent than Prensky's 2001 diatribe) by two seasoned teachers, Joe Clement, and Matt Mileson on the impact of digital use on students in the classroom as seen firsthand. I'm not a Luddite, I know technology is ingratiated in our culture and way of living. But I think what needs to be taught is an awareness of how technology impacts our learning, our ability to relate emphatically, to tackle adversity and more importantly thrive.
Steps toward learning the “language” of multimedia.
I think it is necessary to learn the language of multimedia in order to communicate on a level learners can relate whether via video, images or text. However, for learning to be seamless from teacher to student - there needs to be an understanding on the learner's part too. The best thing we can do is not just adapt, but recognize where and why we need to adapt our teaching methods for our learners. Knowing how we learn and how technology changes the structure of the brain is worth teaching. I think the first step is to breakdown multimedia as a tool that we use to get knowledge so we can create new knowledge.
Steps toward keeping students safe from undesirable social video content.
Trying to protect students online is a mammoth job. School districts install malware, filters and software like GoGuardian that restrict students from accessing certain areas of the Internet and undesirable social content and if they do, alerts administration providing opportunities to discuss and evaluate the situation with the student. I like the opportunities video offers to support learning. And now that YouTube has developed an 'educational' channel, the volume of instructional materials available to teachers and learners is vast. Which makes it all the more necessary to structure the usage and put parameters in place - like converting a YouTube video to another format for viewing.
But what I would really like to see in schools across the nation is a more cohesive plan to teaching Digital Citizenship. This past spring, I spent time with a TIS at a Blue Valley High School and was disappointed to find their Digital Citizenship program was designed for completion over a 6 week period primarily just so the school could roll out the devices to students. I don't think Digital Citizenship is a class you can pass once and never have to encounter again. It's a lifestyle and if it's not infused throughout all of learning, students will never adapt nor adopt it. There's a group based out of Overland Park, KS, called STaRT, Stand Together and Rethink Technology that is bringing awareness to school communities of the negative impacts of technology on kids physical, mental and emotional health. I think parents are asking schools for justification and reassurance that technology use in schools is structured and meaningful. Because the reality is kids spend more than half their day on a device. Embracing Digital Citizenship is a step in the right direction toward managing technology use and constructing a culture of digital users who recognize, respect, value and celebrate our humanity.
Digital Citizenship is the most important thing we can teach our students when we want them to be 21st century students. I love your passion for Digital Citizenship, and the importance of teaching it more than once a year or in one class in high school. We put so much emphasis on character education at my school, but none of it is focused on being a good person when students are online. Kudos to you for recognizing that technology is important, but it is not the end-all be-all to fixing education.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear your POV on this topic! You give a lot of opinions that I would never thought of, especially how you state that the learner needs to be involved too. Although, I use technology in my teaching daily, I still want my learners to be actively participating in what the technology may be teaching them. It's all about balance and that is difficult with students who are digital natives. I agree with you and Nikki both, there is so much to digital citizenship and we don't need it to be a quick snapshot.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Kalm
I am with you on Digital Citizenship. There is entirely too much out there at the access of our fingertips, that we just need to teach these kids how to be more safe. I need to look at the results of digital media, technology and the teenage brain. I am not the proud owner of a teenager, and honestly, I do not get him at all. His brain is definitely wired differently than mine!
ReplyDelete-Misti