Transcript Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

Digital Natives
Dexter Charles, Eboni Thomas,
Anthony Yim
Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives
Immigrants
• Prefer to give information or
teach slowly
• Go step-by-step
• Prefer to print text and then
read
• Like for students to work
alone
• Teach seriously
Natives
• Are used to receiving
information really fast
• Like to parallel and multitask
• Prefer graphics before text
• Prefer random access
• Like to be networked
• Prefer games to serious
work
According to Prensky
• Digital Natives are bored in class and choose not
to pay attention
• Digital Immigrants have to learn to speak the
language of their students because the Digital
Natives aren’t going to go backwards
• Schools need to change the content and the
methodologies they are using to teach that
content
• Video games should be used to teach all subjects
at all levels
Evolution Classroom:
What Teachers Need to Know about the Video Game
Generation
• There is evidence indicating the same students who
are most at risk for failure in the traditional
classroom setting also spend an average of twentyseven minutes per day more than their counterparts
using video games
• 92% of children ages 2-17 play video and computer
games
• Approximately 80% of American families own a
computer and 78% have video game equipment in
their homes.
"They say one of a baby's first non-verbal forms communication is pointing. Clicking must be
somewhere just after that."
Evolution Classroom:
What Teachers Need to Know about the Video Game
Generation
• Parents are the catalyst behind the video game
conglomerate. In 2004, over 50% of parents polled said
they were going to buy their child a videogame for
Christmas. 90% of all videogames are purchased by
individuals 18 years or older.
• “…many of the gamers (digital natives) in school today are
at risk for failure…The gamers (digital natives) are not
formally labeled. Instead they are referred to as lazy,
apathetic, behavior problems, truant, disengaged or
suffering from a bad attitude. Simply put, they are not
happy in school. They are bored. They aren’t challenged.
They see no relevance in the subject m atter.”
Evolution Classroom:
What Teachers Need to Know about the Video Game
Generation
• 90% of all elementary and
secondary students polled,
by a study done by National
Center for Educational
Statistics, in 2003, use their
home computers for
videogames, while only 83%
percent use them for school
assignments. Why not
merge the two?
SKILLS FOR SURVIVING THE 21ST
CENTURY
• More then anything, digital natives need new methods of being
taught to integrate what is being taught and comprehension of it
• Henry Jenkins, professor at MIT writes, “[one] with relatively low
barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support
for creating and sharing one's creations, and. . .one in which
members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree
of social connection with one another“-that students today need
the teacher to teach to their strengths so that they feel connected
to what is being taught
• Too often teachers are teaching through media not to it.
• Ontario, Canada is the first place in North America that required
integrated media be taught
• This has soundly embraces critical thinking skills, the latter
emphasizes hands-on creative expertise.
Generational Myth
• Asserts that there is no
such thing as a “digital
generation”.
• Classes are made up of
a range of students with
different interests and
from different
backgrounds; some of
which don’t allow
regular access to
computers
Generational Myth
• Although some students may have open
access to technology, many don’t know how
to use it beyond entertainment purposes.
(They lack skills.)
• Assuming that all students love a certain form
of classroom interaction means that we will
change policies to fit those assumptions,
when we very well know that all students
learn differently.
Generational Myth
• The concept of "born digital" flattens out the
needs and experiences of young people into a
uniform wish list of policies that conveniently
matches the agenda of digital enthusiasts and
entrepreneurs of all ages.
In Conclusion
• All researchers don’t agree on the best way to
teach Digital Natives
References
Duncan, B., & Arcus, C. (2009, January). SKILLS FOR SURVIVING THE 21ST CENTURY. Education Forum, 35(1), 20,22-23. Retrieved
September 20, 2009, from CBCA Complete.
Simpson, E. (2005, September). What Teachers Need to Know about the Video Game Generation. TechTrends: Linking Research &
Practice to Improve Learning, 49(5), 17-22. Retrieved September 18, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.
Vaidhyanathan, S. (2008, September). Generational Myth. Chronicle of Higher Education, v55 n4 pB7 Sep 2008. 1 pp.
Retrieved September 19, 2009, from Academic Search Complete.