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he states, “the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.”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). 

PLN Reflection

        I found the article Navigating Social Networks as Learning Tools by Will Richardson to be very informative. This article talks about the importance of educators and students making the shift to network literacy. It explains what a huge undertaking this is due to the fact that you need to be able to navigate people, information, and networks alike. The main message I took away from this reading was the necessity for the teacher to become comfortable utilizing technology to publish and build networks in order to effectively model these learning connections for their students. With all of the information available on the web it has become increasing important to understand how to build social networks that consist of participants who are trustworthy and provide viable feedback. After all, there is much to be learned from others who have viewpoints that are different than our own.

        The section that discussed making technology a part of your daily life really hit home with me. When the author stated, “we need to experience a steep “unlearning curve” that allows us to replace old habits of practice with newer, more interactive and collaborative ones” I felt a connection. For so long I have become sedentary, a creature of habit so to speak, not embracing social media and its potential as an effective educational tool.  I am slowly coming to understand the importance and power of learning transparently, sharing information and building social networks which include trustworthy participants. When I say “slowly coming to understand” I simply mean that I see the relevance of social networks in the realm of education however it may take a bit of time and effort on my part to replace my old habits with newer, more efficient ones. In the past I viewed social media strictly as a tool to connect with family and friends with very little regard to its educational networking capabilities.

        I would like to further explore ways to create a balance between network identity and privacy. Formerly, I have been reluctant to jump on the social media train because of the uncertainty of how the information you share will be used. I have come to realize that in order to be an effective educator it is essential for me to set aside my biases about social networking and embrace its potential as an effective networking tool in our ever changing world. 

NETS Reflection

     Although the current NETS standards do not specify what technology you must use to meet each standard I feel it is important to expose students to technology that is currently being used in the “work world.” Students need to be able to see the connection between what their learning in school and how it relates to the real world. I don’t believe the new standards should delineate what technology to use to fulfill a specific standard, however, a list of current programs/presentation software, apps, etc. (used solely as a reference of what is being used in today’s workforce) would prove to be beneficial.

      I think the digital citizenship standard needs to be revamped. I think it is redundant to include “Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology” and “Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.”  In addition, student access to certain sites and social groups is often restricted by the school’s network administrator, therefore, preventing them from participating in social media sites which can hinder collaboration. With that said, I do believe digital citizenship is a double edged sword so to speak. Teaching students to be digitally responsible is very important, however, if schools were to loosen their network controls and allow students to participate in social networking sites some parents may not be in agreement with this practice. It would be as if school administrators/teachers would be taking the power away from parents to determine what they deemed as appropriate sites to expose their children to. This may become less of a concern as children get older (Jr./Sr. High School).

      In order to make the NETS standards more relevant in today’s classroom there needs to be alignment across the board. By this I mean that the up-to-date technology must be accessible to students and teachers alike, the teachers must know how to effectively use it to assess students accordingly and school leaders must ensure that teachers and students are given the appropriate tech support and upgrades to fully utilize the technology in place. I realize this proves to be a difficult task due to the ever changing world of technology.

Gary Stager. (2007). Refreshing the ISTE Technology Standards. Retrieved from http://www.districtadministration.com/article/refreshing-iste-technology-standards