Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Reflection

        Up to this point, I have never thought about the technology divide between students and teachers in this way – Natives vs. Immigrants as well as technology being referred to as a “language.” But it makes complete sense. Technology has become an integral part of students’ daily lives due to the fact that they have been immersed in it since their early beginnings.  For those of us who were not raised using these technological advances on a daily bases it becomes more of a challenge when we try to incorporate them into our lives and the lives of our students. There tends to be a greater “learning curve.” I suppose it may be because we must first “unlearn” the ways of the past and strive to replace our old learning/actions with new, more productive, and up-to-date approaches. In the article Prensky raises this very question, “which is harder – “learning new stuff” or “learning new ways to do old stuff.”” (2001).

        Marc Prensky brings up a good point when he states, “the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.” (2001). I am aware that in order to be an effective educator, it is important for me to learn how to effectively communicate with my students. The challenge lies in learning to reprogram my brain to allow for the changes that are necessary to facilitate this new, faster paced world we are currently immersed in. Prensky (2001) suggests that, “Digital Natives like going faster, less step-by-step, more in parallel, with more random access.” This can be challenging, to say the least, for digital immigrants such as myself who are used to structure/order and who need more time to adequately process new information.

     When students are engaged they become motivated to learn new information and their attention span increases. Marc Prensky (2001) suggests that inventing computer games to teach digital natives will increase their attention span because they are actually learning in a way that interests them. I have mixed feelings about computer games being used as educational tools. If used properly computer games can enrich content and foster a greater sense of motivation for student learning. It is when these computer games are devoid of meaning and context that I do not support their inclusion.

Prensky, M. (October, 2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon (NCB University Press), 9(5).