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Immigrating to a Society of Digital Learners By: Melissa Herring Aisha Shepard Christina Flores Katie Alaniz Prensky’s Notions Natives Immigrants Natives are fast paced, and • Immigrants rely on step-byhave the ability to multistep, simple information task with ease. retrieval and presentations. Natives thrive on instant • Today, teachers are the gratification and frequent immigrants. Students are rewards. the natives. Prensky’s Notions Traditional Views • Brain is static and unable to change. • The same basic processes underlie all human thought. New • Neuroplasticity: the brain is constantly being reorganized. • Malleability: the brain has the ability to change. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Some Thoughts from the Generation Gap” • VanSlyke questions concepts of all students fitting into the Digital Natives definition and compares research that disputes Prensky’s theory. • He believes the computer is a medium, the learner, and teacher are the mediators. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Some Thoughts from the Generation Gap” • VanSlyke agrees that students are changing, and that computers play a great role in education; however, he disagrees with Prensky’s idea that Digital Immigrants must learn to speak the native language in order to be effective teachers. • Immigrants should learn about Digital Native culture as well as aim to improve students’ ability to engage in higher-order thinking. • He is in favor of creating better tools for teachers, then helping teachers to become better users of the tools. “No More Tech for Tech’s Sake” • Rick Cave’s article contains many points of agreement, along with several caveats, regarding Marc Prensky’s Digital Native philosophies. • To support his points, Cave uses evidence he has gathered from various schools, as well as citations from other researchers. “No More Tech for Tech’s Sake” • The Advantages of Technology-Rich Classrooms: Cave argues that if used effectively, technology can make a more significant impact upon today’s tech savvy learners than traditional ways of teaching. – “To succeed in today’s connected world, we all need to understand technology, and develop habits and methodologies that that utilize its strengths.” – If school leaders choose “information consumption” as a learning focus, as opposed to retention, “technology will be an important tool in their teacher’s bag of tricks.” “No More Tech for Tech’s Sake” • The Disadvantages of Technology-Rich Classrooms: Because many initiatives are specifically designed to heighten students’ access to technology, a district can “achieve its goal without actually improving student learning.” – Traditional assessments have not established a link between technology implementation and student achievement. – “Access to technology should not be the goal; improving teaching and learning should be.” “Connecting Informal and Formal Learning Experience in the Age of Participatory Media” • Classrooms today are struggling with relating students’ formal, “in-school” learning with their experiential learning. • The authors suggest that we use participatory media to connect these experiences which foster learning. • They agree that Prensky’s definitions of today’s learner need to be addressed and that teaching methods must be modified. • The use of this media is a springboard for social interactions both in and out of the classroom. • They promote digital video as a starting point to get Gen-Y teacher education students to use this medium in their classrooms. “Laptops for a Digital Lifestyle: Millennial Students and Wireless Mobile Technologies” • Laptop Pilot Project – Performed at Edith Cowan University over 2 semesters – 100 laptops given to undergraduate Digital Media students for use in and out of class – Used to see how the millennial generation used laptops at work, for studying, and in their social lives – Data collected: • Through surveys • Student descriptions of use through a weblog • Students commented on changes to their lives due to study “Laptops for a Digital Lifestyle: Millennial Students and Wireless Mobile Technologies” Positives Negatives • Laptops fulfilled their need for immediacy. • They could use them for “everything.” • “I have noticed I am a lot less stressed with more free time on my hands. I also produce material of higher quality as I can make changes to stuff when I see fit” (McMahon, Pospisil 429). • “My sister thinks I’m a snob when I bring it to places to do work” (McMahon, Pospisil, 426). • They made students “lazy.” • When computer would fail, students would complain strongly… emphasizing their need for immediacy. • Teachers had difficulty integrating the laptops into the teaching and learning programs. Are we reaching today’s students appropriately? A Vision of Students Today Reference Page • Bull, G., Thompson, A., Searson, M., Garofalo, J., Park, J., Young, C., & Lee, J (2008). Connecting Informal and Formal Learning: Experiences in the Age of Participatory Media. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(2). • Timothy VanSlyke (2003, May/June). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Some Thoughts from the Generation Gap. The Technology Source (http://ts.mivu.org/). • Rick Cave. (2009, February). No More Tech for Tech's Sake. Scholastic Administr@tor, 8(5), 24,26. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1648457731). • McMahon, M., Pospisil, R. (2005). Laptops for a Digital Lifestyle: Millennial Students and Wireless Mobile Technologies. Retrieved from: http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/ proceedings/49_McMahon%20&%20Pospisil.pdf.