Teaching Digital Natives

Each generation has specific characteristics that are a direct result of the era in which they were born and raised. How do these characteristics impact the way in which they learn? Is it necessary for teachers as “digital immigrants” (Prensky, 2001) to develop and implement new teaching strategies in order for the current generation, the “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001), to be successful, engaged learners?

Marc Prensky states that “today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” and this is due to the “singularity” of “the arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decades of the 20th century” (Prensky, 2001). He then compares these students to digital immigrants, highlighting and emphasizing how the differences between the two negatively affect the ability for digital natives to learn from digital immigrants. Furthermore, he states that “Digital Immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now” (Prensky, 2001).

I found that Prensky’s arguments tend to over generalize and do not necessarily depict the teaching and learning styles of both digital natives and digital immigrants accurately. “Anyone who takes the briefest look at theories of how human beings learn will discover that our students learn in all kinds of ways and that we should never assume that any one method is universal or even a majority preference. Likewise, to blanket our current students with the label "digital natives" doesn't take into account the wide range of experiences and preferences they have with technology” (Lang, 2007). As a classroom teacher, I strive to meet the individual needs of my students. This involves identifying their needs and teaching students in a variety of ways based on different learning theories such as problem-based, experiential, direct, constructivist, inquiry, and multiple intelligences. Technology is one area in which students’ needs must be ascertained and then met. “The importance of getting to know your students’ out-of-school technology, access, conditions, and use” was described in “Who Are Today’s Learners?” (Greenhow, 2008). To determine my students’ access to and understanding of technology, I gave them a quick survey and found that some of my students were not able to easily access technology outside of school nor were they as techno-savvy as I would have thought considering that they are digital natives. The results of this survey will now determine what and how I teach with regards to using technology in the classroom.

Is it necessary then to develop and implement completely new teaching strategies and alter our teaching styles in order to engage digital natives and ensure that they are successful learners? Absolutely not! “Education does need to adapt and evolve with the times, and educators need to understand the learning styles of their students, but we do not have to assume that our students are incapable of learning from or communicating with the digital immigrants even if we suspect that their thought patterns are different from our own” (VanSlyke, 2003). Teaching strategies can be adapted to include the use of technology in order to enhance student learning. The fundamentals of learning stay the same and digital technology simply offers students and teachers another avenue to access information, to work collaboratively, to create, and to present their knowledge and understanding. For instance, the strategy of webbing is used to generate and link ideas when writing about a specific topic or for note-taking purposes. Students can use software such as Kidspiration and online tools such as bubble.us to generate a web independently or to work collaboratively with others when creating their webs. A second strategy, the R.A.F.T. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), is a writing strategy that involves students applying their knowledge to write in role and to a specific audience. With the use of the internet, students are able to increase their knowledge base and connect with people on a global basis to assist in developing differing perspectives that would allow them to write in role in a more authentic manner.

The current generation of students, digital natives, are characterized and shaped in part by digital technology. Digital immigrant teachers acknowledge these differences and demonstrate an understanding by adapting, not abandoning, their strategies to accommodate for the need and desire of students to utilize digital technology when learning.

References:

Greenhow, Christine. “Who Are Today’s Learners?” Learning and Leading with Technology. Sept/Oct. 2008.

Lang, James. M. “A Brain and a Book.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. June 2007. 53(39), C.2-C.3.

Prensky, Marc.“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon. Oct. 25. Vol. 9, No. 5.

VanSlyke, Timothy. "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Some Thoughts from the Generation Gap." The Technology Source. May/June 2003.