Reflection on Prensky's Ideas

 

 

When reading the article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" I find myself somewhat stuck in the middle. I am partially a Digital Native in that I thrive in multi-tasking and love analysing graphs, cold hard facts and figures before I read the text associated with those figures (oh dear maybe the learning styles test was a clear reflection of my need for visual information to learn). However I have definitely retained my "accent" as the text suggests, as I feel that my immigrant tendency to religiously print out assignments to edit by hand BEFORE I digitally edit them is vital to my success. The reference in the text of out-dated language such as "dialling" a number rang true to me (no pun intended). I remember last year, whilst I was working as a teacher's aide in a Year 2 class, the teacher presented the topic History of Technology. Students were presented with "old" technology and "new" technology (such as Discmans and iPods) and asked to compare them in relation to their advantages and disadvantages. I found this unit very interesting in that a) the students had no idea what the so-called old technology's were or used for and b) their lack of appreciation for these amazing and exciting technologies of the times! haha! They were quick to come up with examples of the disadvantages of the old technology, citing reasons such as "it's ugly" or "it's too big" to the Discmans I used to adore as a child of their age. I instantly felt very old at a mere 24 years of age. At the time I was their age I revelled in the ability to have music with me anywhere I went whereas now aesthetics and ease of use were important factors the new generation thought needed consideration. I felt the need to defend the old technology and was excited when they cited an advantage of my discman that it had batteries so you could always buy more and have it working again whereas an iPod requires charging!

 

The notion that students have to "power down" at school (as cited from www.hungry.com) rings all so true of children yet to enter formal primary school! I work with children aged 2-6 years old at the moment who are intently engaged with and learn through the use of interactive whiteboards and iPads. The way a 3 year old can navigate through all the apps on an iPad to find the game they want to play and complete the activities in that app astounds me.

 

 

 

Prensky's idea that

 

Today‟s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students. This doesn’t mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills. But it does mean going faster, less step-by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things.

 

had me feeling nervous as I thrive on step by step processes and had me feeling like I need to be, dare I say it, more frivolous in my method of teaching. Frivolous to me in that it seems nonsensical at present but I am eager to see how I can build these skills.

 

So finally, as Prensky puts it, it's time for me to stop my "grousing" and take the important steps in developing the ability to teach Digital Natives.. I would say creating a blog is a good first step  ;)