Week 1 Article 2

Title:

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Bibliography:

Prensky, Marc (2001, October). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. NCB University Press, 9,
Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/Prensky%20-%20Digital%
20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.htm

Summary:

In this article, the author explores how instruction must adapt to the new generation of students that have grown up with technology. The author claims many instructors are challenged by technology yet technology is second nature to the students. The author has named these students Digital Natives. Those individuals that have not grown up with technology are referred to as Digital Immigrants by the author. The way Digital Natives process information is different than how student before them processed information. Digital Natives like to receive information very quickly and love to multi-task. This has caused, in the author’s opinion, the brains of Digital Natives to function differently than the generations of learners before them.

The author uses the analogy of immigrants to a new country compared to individuals that have had to learn to function in a world driven by advances in technology. Digital Immigrants may have adapted to the new technology (new language and activities), but as with most immigrants they still have an “accent.

The author feels that currently many instructors are Digital Immigrants. This causes a huge obstacle to learning because Digital-Immigrant instructors aren’t “speaking” a language their students can understand. The author claims that Digital Immigrants don’t feel students can possibly learn easily while watching TV or listening to music because Digital Immigrants often can’t. However, these are skills that Digital Natives have perfected over time because of their access and use of technologies that allow them to receive input from multiple sources simultaneously.

The author discusses how this hurdle has caused much unrest in education. The instructors feel like the students aren’t paying attention, and the students feel like the instructors are presenting information in a boring format i.e. there is not enough use of technology. The author then gave an example of how the use of CAD (computer aided drafting) software revolutionized engineering. Yet many engineers did not want to learn the new software. The marketers of the software realized that the majority of the software users were male engineers between 20 and 30 years old. The marketers decided to make a video game training program so that the engineers would play a video game that at the same time taught lessons about CAD. The difficulty came when the marketers tried to work with professors who wanted to follow traditional training methods. That is to say the professors wanted specific lessons to cover only specific tasks and each task had to be completed in a specific order. Ultimately the professors were able to compromise with the marketers and try something new. This resulted is a video game named Monkey Wrench that when played teaches the player how to use the CAD software.

Reaction:

Even though this article is over five years old, I think the author raises an interesting interpretation of things he has observed. The new generation of learners may process information differently, but I don’t think this means they can’t learn from more traditional teaching methods. What I am saying is we should throw away all the “old” tools of teaching and replace them with “new” technology. Do you agree that students of the new generation do actually learn (process information) differently than the generations before them?

I feel the true power of what the author suggests is that by using technology in a more creative way larger audiences can be reached. It will be important for developers of curriculum to not be too consumed with entertaining their audience and to remain focused on the true goal of educating the audience. I also support the movement of Universal Design. We as educators should strive to find different ways to meet the different learning styles of our students. As more and more classes are offered via distance education, faculty members should experiment with technology to see what works best for which student. As we make accommodations for a particular student the entire class may benefit from the accommodation. I support the notation of more research in the area of online learning, the use of technology, and the practice of Universal Design.

I think that instructors always have and will continue to struggle with reaching their audience. The use of advanced technology is yet another tool instructors can use to relay their message to the students in their class. What are some examples of advanced technology and how can they be used to advance higher education?