Hi everyone,
I hope you’re all doing as well as can be hoped coping with last night’s events on campus. I know that everyone has a lot on their mind right now, but I wanted to send this out so that you could be thinking about it as you head towards the weekend:
Our reading for Monday, Marc Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” makes a strong case on behalf of a digitally informed way of thinking, teaching, and learning. In Prensky’s eyes, education and culture have to catch up to the thought processes and lives of digital natives in order to make the most of the new potential they have to offer. Since we’ve spent several classes mulling over and debating the validity of the kinds of arguments Prensky makes, let’s take this as an opportunity to shift perspective and ask about the how of this world—what are some of the characteristic actions of digital natives, and what potential do they hold? Playing out these questions on the blog will give us a chance to practice some digital skills, and to think about possible topic directions for the first paper (not every topic you might raise in this blog post would make a good paper topic, and you’re certainly not required to use what you come up with here for your paper topic, but it should at least get you started thinking in some useful directions).
So for this blog post, I’d like you to reflect analytically on your own lifestyle as a digital native. In order to do this, you need to do several things: first, find a passage in Prensky’s article where you see him talking about some element of digital native culture that you think is interesting, or surprising, or important to his argument—it should be a good, meaty passage of concepts and ideas, at least two or three sentences long (the kind of passage you might quote in a paper). Then think of how your own behavior as a digital native reflects what he’s saying in the passage you’ve chosen—focus on one specific, particular kind of action you see yourself doing, whether it’s on the computer or on your phone, at work, school, social life, etc. Then find an illustration of what you’re thinking about online (an image, a video clip, etc.), and explain how your behavior and the illustration of it you’ve chosen relate to the ideas and claims in your quotation.
In order to get full credit for your posting, you must write a paragraph in which you do several things:
- Set up, quote, and summarize a passage from Prensky’s writing.
- Analyze that passage and show how the ideas within it connect to the behavior you’ve chosen. How do the issues from Prensky’s writing appear within your new example? What cultural possibilities and promises do they raise in that specific situation? (Don’t just point out that the issues do appear—be specific and analytical in how you connect them).
- Include your media example in your post through an embedded video, a link to an image, etc., that illustrates the behavior and issues you’re discussing. To embed a YouTube video in your comments, simply grab the URL of any YouTube video and paste it directly into your comment. To include an image, you should also paste the URL into your comment, but this will only show a link rather than the direct image.
Reminder: your response should go in the comments section for this post. It is due by midnight on Sunday, February 5th, the night before our Monday class, and should be at least 150 words. If you have any questions, let me know via email.
Debates in Digital Culture Section 18 
Reading Marc Prensky’s article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”, reminds me so much of the teachers I had growing up. Prensky states, “Digital Immigrants don’t believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they (the immigrants) can’t. Of Course not – they didn’t practice this skill constantly for all their formative years. Digital Immigrants think learning can’t (or shouldn’t ) be fun” (pg6). If you look inside classrooms across the country, many teachers ban any type of technology and use old methods of teaching. While making students visit the library for hours and making them write out definitions might have worked in the past, it does not now. Prensky argues that Digital Immigrants, while many are fascinated with technology, don’t know how to adapt the education system for Digital Natives. He mentions that the education system is failing because it was not designed to teach digital natives. A YouTube video I found called Social Media in Education – Teaching Digital Natives in 2011, shows exactly when Prensky is arguing about. With a world that is changed and revolved around technology, why are schools not accommodating the Digital Natives.
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
Social Media in Education – Teaching Digital Natives in 2011.” YouTube. Web. 04 Feb. 2012. .
In Marc Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” he states that “Today’s average college grad has spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, e- mail, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives.”(pg 4) I can certainly attest to being an avid TV watcher, e- mail, Internet, and cell phone user. The new technology makes it so much easier to communicate with one another and stay in contact with friends near and far. But I still enjoy reading a book for pleasure. I don’t like reading long articles or books off the Internet or even on a tablet. There’s nothing really like just taking the time out of your day to sit and read a book you find interesting and focus all of your attention just on that. Prensky believes that we need to think of technological ways to teach Digital Natives in school and I completely agree. In the YouTube video “Digital Media’s Effect on Kids & Learning” is another example of children want to and can learn from technology.
Prensky says that every subject can be taught through technology. (11) However, I do not think that English can be taught through solely a technological device or learning method. There’s not other way in teaching the contents of a story in a book rather than just reading it. Even if you read the information off the Internet or a tablet you would still need to get the information. I think it all depends on the student if they would read the book or not, not how the information is presented to them. If they find the material interesting they will read it. I believe that Prensky still thinks that reading a book or newspaper is still a good way in learning because he did publish his article in the On the Horizon newsletter.
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
MacArthur Foundation. “Digital Media’s Effect on Kids & Learning” .YouTube, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.
In Marc Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” he states that “Today’s average college grad has spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, e- mail, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives.”(pg 4) I can certainly attest to being an avid TV watcher, e- mail, Internet, and cell phone user. The new technology makes it so much easier to communicate with one another and stay in contact with friends near and far. But I still enjoy reading a book for pleasure. I don’t like reading long articles or books off the Internet or even on a tablet. There’s nothing really like just taking the time out of your day to sit and read a book you find interesting and focus all of your attention just on that. Presenky believes that we need to think of technological ways to teach Digital Natives in school and I completely agree. In the YouTube video “Digital Media’s Effect on Kids & Learning” is another example of children want to and can learn from technology.
Prensky says that every subject can be taught through technology. (11) However, I do not think that English can be taught through solely a technological device or learning method. There’s not other way in teaching the contents of a story in a book rather than just reading it. Even if you read the information off the Internet or a tablet you would still need to get the information. I think it all depends on the student if they would read the book or not, not how the information is presented to them. If they find the material interesting they will read it. I believe that Prensky still thinks that reading a book or newspaper is still a good way in learning because he did publish his article in the On the Horizon newsletter.
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
MacArthur Foundation. “Digital Media’s Effect on Kids & Learning” .YouTube, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.
In the article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” Marc Prensky writes about digital natives, the educational system, and the changes that he hopes to see take place in the future. While speaking about the tendencies and characteristics of such natives, I could not help but think that, Prensky, was talking about me. On page 6, Prensky says that digital natives “prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite…. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work.” This passage describes well, the method that I enjoy learning from. From the times since I was just a toddler, I can remember educational games such as typing games, mystery games, etc. Through my experiences with these games, I have learned to type fast and think slightly more analytically from such visual and interactive learning methods. And as time progresses, younger generations are also being taught through more accessible and advanced technology. As seen in the photo named “iboy” taken by Ernst Vikne, we can see two children being enthralled in a teaching game on the iPad. These examples of teaching digital natives through entertainment are reflective of Prensky’s idea of natives through “edutainment.” (10) Although I believe that this approach may work for a large portion of subjects, I am highly skeptical of the prospects that Prensky claims that edutainment may offer. My skepticism stems from my doubts on how classes such as the arts and English would be incorporated into Prensky’s new educational system. I do think that Prensky has the basic idea correct, but there may be several fallacies in his high ambitions.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iboy/5909920424/
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
Vinke, Ernst. IBoy. Digital image. Flickr. Yahoo!, 5 July 2011. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
The changes introduced by the fast evolving media culture require a new educational system that would be able to integrate the knowledge to be acquired with the new digital progress. The old school methodology is not compatible with the high dependency that the ” digital natives” develop for technology. As a result a huge gap is formed between teachers and students, neither one of these groups being willing to compromise for a successful learning process. The “Digital Immigrants” find it difficult to adjust from what they learned as being the right method to teach, that required a different set of skills and a lot more work. On the other hand Prensky says that “digital natives are used to getting information really fast. They like to parallel process and multitask. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite”(18). That means that the step by step process that develops analytical abilities and teaches how to rationally approach a problem is not suitable for the digital natives. They are used to get answers easily and they are used to multitask as they are doing that. I can easily identify myself with one of them. When looking for information I look for the fastest method to get it. I usually find answers to my questions on several blogs which also offer you details. Multitasking is an other thing that I do all the time. I do realize that that quality of the tasks that I performed is lower but the time saved compensates for that. The image I chose that expresses an activity that relates to Prenscky’s article is the image of a teenager that performs a couple of things at the same time. The technological advances that we have now give us the opportunity to do that. We can write a paper in the same time accessing hundreds of websites, responding to e-mails and being on the phone. I believe that the availability to such opportunities changes the way we do things and in the eyes of evolution we evolve by adapting to our environment.
http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP554/k5542239/
In his article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”, Marc Prensky suggests that today’s education system needs to be updated. The younger generation has been raised on new technologies and would benefit by being taught in ways that utilize them. He gives a specific example of this when he states that “In geography—which is all but ignored these days— there is no reason that a generation that can memorize over 100 Pokémon characters with all their characteristics, history, and evolution can’t learn the names, populations, capitals, and relationships of all the 101 nations in the world. It just depends on how it is presented.” (10). I found this passage to be interesting because last semester I took an online geography course that utilized this method of learning. Overall the course catered to the digital native by using videos, google earth activities, and various websites as the main text. One of the websites we used was plaidavenger.com, which tried to appeal to the younger generation by teaching geography through a comic book type character named “The Plaid Avenger”. Although ridiculous at times, the site had many useful tools, especially the “Know Your World Leaders” gallery. The gallery teaches world leaders in a trading card format very similar to the one Prensky suggested in the passage. By using digital tools and making the content more relatable, the course kept me interested in a subject that otherwise I would have found boring or hard to understand. Perhaps some of these tools may not be practical for certain courses, but I believe Presnky has the right idea; the education system needs to begin to cater more to the students.
http://plaidavenger.com/leaders/
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 10 Print.
Social Media in Education – Teaching Digital Natives in 2011.” YouTube. Web. 04 Feb. 2012. .
In Marc Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” he states that, “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach (3).” Prensky justifies his argument by noting a specific element of the digital native culture, “Today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors (4).” Prensky suggests that the best way to fundamentally change the education system for the better is to adapt, “an idiom with which most digital natives are totally familiar (9).” Prensky then proposes that, “If digital immigrants really want to reach Digital Natives – i.e., all their students – they will have to change (8).” He suggests that the best way to do this is to, “adapt materials to the language of Digital Natives that has already been one successfully. My own preference for teaching Digital Natives is to invent computer games to do the job, even for the most serious content (9).” This is a very important part of Prensky’s argument because it represents an answer that has proven effective in radically changing the way digital natives absorb information.
As I think of how my own behavior as a digital native, I agree completely that, “Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students (7).” Personally, as a student, I can attest to the boring manner in which most of my professors conduct their courses. Many professors have lost touch with their students because the students refuse to learn in the same old fashioned way that the professors were originally taught. Prensky notes that, if we shift the education paradigm to such things as interactive video games or any other, “digital native methodology” then the possibilities are endless for all (educational) subjects, at all levels (10).
Prensky is not the only one who believes that interactive learning through technology is the way of the future. This concept is rapidly being embedded into the education system from grade school through college. A perfect example of this is within the engineering division of Northern Illinois University. Professor Brianno Coller coined the idea at his university, and now his students are, building virtual race cars, completing roaring engines and screeching tires, that must maneuver an increasingly challenging course. Along the way, his students are exposed to computational math, a a basic building block of engineering. Professor Coller is perfectly exemplifying the methodologies that Prensky employed in his argument on the future of the education system. By using animation, interaction and a familiar interface, students are able to directly put their knowledge to the test, rather than subjecting the students to a boring lecture. This certainly raises cultural possibilities and promises for the future. If the education system is able to tap into the way digital natives are accustomed to thinking, then I believe we will see a massive influx of students who want to actively engage in their learning in the future.
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
Zich, John. “Colleges’ Latest Thrust: Video Games, USATODAY.com.” News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World – USATODAY.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. .
In Mark Prensky’s essay, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants he explains the expanding technological gap between younger and older generations. Prensky does this by using a metaphor, comparing Digital Natives, a person who was born into a digital world, to the Digital Immigrants, a person who has to learned and adapted to the new technology. Prensky further extends his metaphor explaining what separates an Immigrant from a Native “they always retain, to some degree, their “accent”, that is their foot in the past. The digital immigrant accent can be seen in such things as turning to the Internet for information second rather than first, or in reading the manual for a program rather than assuming that the program itself will teach us to use it. Todays older folk were socialized differently from their kids and are now in the process of learning a new language.” (page 5). As Prensky said Digital Immigrants could learn and adapt to these new technologies however, it will not be first nature. For example, when my parents, Digital Immigrants need directions they feel more comfortable using a map, pencil and paper. However, I, a Digital Native, feel more comfortable using MapQuest, my cell phone or Google Maps to find directions. My parent’s preference to use a map pencil and paper is what Prensky would refer to as an “accent”. Even though both of my parents have learned how to use MapQuest they simply forget to because their learning process for looking up directions typically involved pen and paper. On the other hand, a Digital Native such as myself would not even think to use a real map because my learning process involved the Internet. Also if my parents used the Internet and I used a map it would take much longer and be less convenient. The convenience factor adds to this digital divide, people are more likely to do what the fastest and most convenient. This poses the question, as the number of digital natives rises and the number of digital immigrants drops will paper formats become more obsolete because they are no longer convenient to the Digital Natives? On the other hand it could have a positive outlook for the green community, if paper formats become dated and outworn it could be helpful to the environment in the hopes of “going green”.
Photograph. CSL Cartoon Stock. By Dingo. Web. .
Bauerlein, Mark. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. The Digital Divide: Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2011. 3-11. Print.
In Marc Prensky’s article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, he starts off by naming the number one cause of the decline of education is the U.S. Prensky states, ” Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. (Prensky, 3)” After suggesting this update throughout educational systems across the country, Prensky lets his readers in on how Digital Natives feel about education, teachers, and the curriculum at hand. What we discover by this is that many students feel as though teachers are filling them with information that they will never need, and don’t care about. Although Digital Natives are highly adaptive and have trained their brains to work in a more complex way then past generations, this raises problems with the adults who grew up in a different culture to connect or understand their students. As a Digital Native that never felt as though school was for me, I absolutely felt a connection with this article and agreed very much with what Prensky had to say. One quote that resonated with me personally was:
“In geography- which is all but ignored these days- there is no reason that a generation that can memorize over 100 Pokemon characters with all their characteristics, history, and evolution can’t learn the names, populations, capitals, and relationships of all the 101 nations in the world. It just depends on how it’s presented. (Prensky, 10)”
Throughout my entire education up until college I always hated school, hated classes, hated teachers, hated the principal, and hated school rules. The only positive I could find through school was the ability to socialize whenever I could. The curriculum just seemed like it didn’t apply to me, I didn’t care about what we were learning, and the teachers were boring. I never read an assigned book, rarely studied for tests not to mention mid-terms, and would just blow some of my work off without even thinking twice about it. I wasn’t stupid, I could memorize any song lyric, dance routine, or anything else of interest. To me, the education system was flawed but not knowing anything else, it seemed normal to me. When I got to Temple and declared a major, my outlook on school began to change. Finally professors made sense and taught in ways that I could understand, had me wanting to go to class, and I was finally learning information that was relevant, even interesting. My grades began to get better and better and now I am on the honor role for the first time. So now when I think about the word “education,” I think about opportunity. The generations to come deserve this opportunity but will not take it unless the educational system is re-tailored to fit their needs and interests. The Digital Natives have rewired their brains to process information swiftly but with all the other information out there, they will detect and learn what is important or relevant to them and retain that information, while disregarding other information of less importance. Students are our future, so why not invest in them and their interests?
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
In the article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” Marc Prensky he speaks about digital media and education. Prensky states that there is a gap between the way us digital natives are learning and the way our digital immigrants learned. The old way of learning in school was going to the library and or sitting down and memorizing tons of information. However now a days that form of learning no longer interests students.
Prensky states, “They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite… They prefer games to “serious” work” (6). I relate to this idea because it is easier for me to learn through technology whether it’s playing a video game or learning information through a video clip. Most students can agree that they are visual and hands on learners. Technology is visual and hands on and now we need to tie this in to our classrooms.
Playing simple games in the classroom can engage students to want to learn. In my social studies class in high school my teacher would make a trivia game using power point to help us get ready for tests. This game helped us learn the information because we all would become so competitive trying to get the right answer and win. When it came time to take the test we could remember the right answers from the game, which raised the class test scores. The younger and our generation grew up using technology on their spare time by using them to do things that interest them why not use technology to help them learn and have fun at the same time.
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
In writing, “Digital Natvies, Digital Immigrants” Mark Prensky challenges the way our education system currently functions. Right now, we are part of a system that isn’t designed to teach students who are considered Digital Natives. Students are still capable of high-level thinking they just aren’t put in situations where they can use all of their abilities. Prensky addresses this point when he says “So unless we want to just forget about educating Digital Natives until they grow up and do it themselves, we had better confront this issue. And in doing so we need to reconsider both our methodology and our content.” (7) When I first started reading this piece by Prensky, my interest was immediately heightened. Last week, when we discussed two other chapters from The Digital Divide, I thought to myself “If they think our brains are changing and we don’t do certain tasks the same way anymore why don’t they change the way we are taught.” Another part of this reading addresses a key point of discussion, “Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel-process and multitask.” (6) Multitasking is something that is highly debated. Some people say that no matter what, people can’t do things at the highest level if they’re doing more then one thing at the same time. In my own life, I’m always multitasking; unless I really need to focus, there isn’t a time where I’m not doing at least 2 things at once. It’s usually more then that, probably 4 or 5 different things at once. Multitasking is something that all Digital Natives do because it’s a skill that they’ve learned and perfected over time. Older generations don’t see how people can do so many things at once, but it’s pretty easy for those who grew up in this technology driven society. I included a link below to an image that demonstrates the younger generation and how they multitask. Overall, Prenksy wants the education system to adapt to this new type of student, rather then having Digital Natives adapt to a type of teaching that wasn’t designed for them. He realizes that certain things like reading will always be important, but there are still ways to improve other aspects of our education.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 6-7 Print.
Yodilong. Youth. Digital image. Times Union. 13 May 2009. Web. 05 Feb. 2012.
As a digital native the number one behavior I find myself constantly doing is multitasking. Rarely is there a moment where I do not have more than one window up on my computer. In his article, Prensky explains: “Digital natives are receiving information really fast. They like to parallel-process and multitask. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards” (Prensky 6). The ability to absorb information in a non-linear, step by step context pulls the digital natives ahead of the curve. Digital Immigrants do not understand multitasking is our strength, that random access learning can achieve greater results. Such as the example given in Prensky’s article (of listening to music and doing homework), is further proof that the minds of the young are being molded to have the ability to multitask and function is proof that the minds of digital natives’ brains are working differently.
“Music and Learning Photo.” Geny Spot. WordPress. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 6 Print.
I’m not sure what happened to my works cited during the copy, but here it is again.
“Music and Learning Photo.” Geny Spot. WordPress. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
Prensky,Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 6 Print.
again, it got angry and got rid of my link
In Marc Prensky’s Digital Natives, in reference to the population known as the “digital natives” he states, “They are used to the instantaneity of hypertext, downloaded music, phones in their pockets, a library on their laptops, beamed messages and instant messaging. They’ve been networked most or all of their lives. They have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic, and “tell-test” instruction.” At first I was very reluctant to this broad statement. I took a little bit of offense to this, and found it very demoralizing after reading it. As I went back to the article for the second time, this particular passage stuck out to me once again. I decided to break it down and take a deeper look into what he was trying to say. After analyzing his examples, I was astounded to realize that I was able to relate to every single one of his examples. Around the sixth grade I began instant messaging with my friends on AOL, and in the same year I got my very first iPod, where my eyes were opened to the world of internet music. In the seventh grade I received my first cell phone with texting, and it was all down hill from there. When I got to high school, I created my Facebook account, and there was no looking back. But the sentence that hit me the most was the last one that I cited. “They have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic, and “tell-test” instruction.” Am much as I would like to deny that this is true, I would only be lying to myself. My attention span has been dwindling more and more since the first time I ever signed on to AOL and began chatting with my buddy list. I can recall sitting in grade school, and being so excited to come home and use my dial up internet system to sign online. To this day I still find it slightly difficult to pay attention in class for the entire time. College is significantly harder than high school, and because of this I have been trying my very best to tell myself to stay focused. It has been difficult, but I know that everyday I am getting better and better. I hope that by the time I graduate, my mind will be trained to not rely so heavily on technology, but more on my own skills.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. Print.
Mark Prensky’s article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” discusses how digital technology has affected thinking, teaching, and learning. In order to bring out today’s students full potential, Prensky feels that education needs to catch up with the thought process of digital natives. He states that “It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. It is very likely that our students’ brains have physically changed as a result of how they grew up” (4). In other words, the impact of digital technology has changed the way today’s students think and operate compared to students in the past. The thinking pattern of an individual who wasn’t exposed to digital culture growing up is going to be different than someone who has grew up surrounded by computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age. I can easily relate to what Prensky is saying because I myself am a digital native. It is safe to say that I send and receive around four hundred text messages a week. I feel that texting promotes multitasking because it allows you to communicate with several different people at once. However, most people who grew up when there was no such thing as texting feel that it is useless. For example, my parents hate it when I text them because they feel that actually calling someone on the phone is a more effective way to communicate. Contrary to what they believe, I feel that texting has trained my brain how to concentrate on several different things at once. Prensky stated 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” (6). Something as simple as text messaging is a perfect example of what Prensky is talking about because if digital immigrants grew up in today’s digital culture they would have a completely different view on texting. Rather than view it as a useless way to communicate they would see that it allows an individual to do multiple things at once. I have attached a drawing of a teenager multitasking to the fullest. He is on the computer, listening to music and eating a sandwich all while doing homework. Why do everything separate if you can do them all at once and save time? If digital immigrants were exposed to digital technology growing up then they would be able to see how something as simple as texting is an effective way to communicate.
Image URL- http://miranda81610.blogspot.com/2011/04/media-multitasking.html
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 4-6 Print.
Digital image. http://miranda81610.blogspot.com/2011/04/media-multitasking.html. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.
In Marc Prensky’s article, he talks about Digital Immigrants and Digital Native. Prensky define Digital Immigrant as those who are familiar with the computers, but did not grow up around computers, electronics, and internet. Also, if they need to find information, they would turn to the library first, rather than the computers. However, Digital Native is the opposite. Computers, electronics, and the internet are their world. For example, Prensky stated, “Digital Immigrants don’t believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they can’t” (6). In other words, kids like to multitask while doing their homework. According to Prensky, I am considered to be a Digital Native. When I am doing my homework, I usually watch TV or listening to music. Although I complete my homework, with no errors, it takes me much longer. But if I was doing my homework without any distraction, I would complete my homework faster. In other words, there is a disadvantage, which is time. However, the advantage for a Digital Native is multitasking because he or she can catch up on a show that they missed while completing their homework.
http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/78635413.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=1969796456060F55469783CDDF46C3B673AA521FC01DEBA5C995D08E5D9430C2E30A760B0D811297
Today’s world greatly differs from that of fifty years ago; there is no need to question this statement as it is evident to those who take the time to think about it. From this time fifty years ago, “students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. … Today’s students – K through college – represent the first generations to grow up in this technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video [cameras], cell phones, and all other toys and tools of the digital age. … It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (Prensky, 3-4). Unfortunately we are, and always will be, in a period of time where ‘today’s students’ (or Digital Natives) will think differently than their predecessors, regardless of what age we are in; this is a simple concept to understand because technology is always changing and as new technologies are introduced, the younger generations find it easier to include these into their daily lifestyles. A part of the responsibility of the Digital Natives is to teach the ‘Digital Immigrants’ how to use these new technologies. This is done on a daily basis as the current generation’s parents and grandparents try to use the technology that is popular now, but was not when they were in school.
The first of the two videos included in this post shows very clearly the ways in which the American education system has changed over the years. In addition to these photos is the song The Times They Are A Changin’ by Bob Dylan. This song is effective to the point being made in the video, and in Prensky’s article, where the older generations like the teachers and parents need to take the time to learn what the current generations know as a means of more effectively teaching them the life skills they will need to learn. In the third stanza of this song, Dylan says “Come mothers and fathers, Throughout the land, And don’t criticize, What you can’t understand, Your sons and your daughters, Are beyond your command, Your old road is, Rapidly agin’, Please get out of the new one, If you can’t lend your hand, For the times they are a-changin’.” This song was written in 1964 but has the timelessness that allows it to apply to any period in time because the times will always be changing. The civilization needs to make an effort to understand the changes that are taking place and include them as a part of life or disregard them, but should not try to get in the way of the changes that are bound to occur. This relates to Prensky’s article very well because of the example that he uses of Monkey Wrench being a new way for students to learn CAD software. He mentions this because the way students think and learn has greatly changed due to the increased use of technology in this culture; because of this, the way students are taught should also be changed. This brings the focus back to the video- in the last moments of the video, the song ends and the quote attached makes a solid point that strengthens the song, as well as Prensky’s article. The quote reads “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” This quote, said by John Cotton Dana who was a librarian in the late 18- and early 1900’s, is yet another piece of evidence from the past that strengthens the ideas of the present which will ultimately strengthen the future. This is a simple summarization of the point Prensky is trying to make in talking about Monkey Wrench and the point Bob Dylan makes in the song mentioned above. Our culture and our civilization will constantly be changing, and if we don’t allow ourselves to change with it, we will forever be stuck in the past.
The second of the two videos pulls from this idea and is directed to the teachers and educators of today. It asks the question of “how are you going to teach me?” by using pictures and questions that are clearly pointed at educators in a way that they are asked by today’s younger generations. This is a simple, yet effective video that pulls together examples of the way technology is now and how students learn now is different from the way it used to be. This pairs nicely with the previously introduced video which gives the background information which explains why things are changing, whereas this one asks ‘’what are you going to do about it?’’ This all relates back to Prensky’s article where one of his closing ideas is the need to continually learn the things that are changing within the digital culture as a means of staying up to date on the ways in which students are living and learning.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 3-11 Print.
In order for the world to get accustomed to the daily growth and speed of high technology, both “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” need to work together. In Mark Prensky’s article “Digital Native, Digital Immigrants” he specifies on the fact that Digital Immigrants- students K through 12 who have been born into a world of high technology and advances that have changed their brains are quite different from Digital Immigrants- those who were not born in the digital world. The way students learned in past generations have changed dramatically from the way learning is taught in today’s world. Students rely on the internet more than they rely on the library, they find it easier to google a term they need to know instead of going through a dictionary or encyclopedia. So how do professors and teachers teach when they use the same techniques they were taught by growing up but isn’t as effective for this generation? Prensky states “Our digital Immigrants are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.” This quote is significant in the argument that Digital Immigrants have to adapt to the lives of Digital Natives. However, each party can indeed learn from the other. For example, Digital Natives can suggest ways they like learning in order to enhance their attention to new concepts, just as Digital Immigrants can show Digital Immigrants ways they grew up learning so that the Natives have multiple ways of grasping new concepts besides through technology. I use my Grandmother and myself as an example; as my grandmother grew up with no technology besides television and a phone, I was born into a world of laptops, cell phones, video games, and more. I take it upon myself to teach my grandmother how to text, use more things for the internet, and send multiple emails to save her time and stress. In return, my grandmother keeps an encyclopedia and dictionary in the house, and keeps an updated library membership card. I have learned to use the encyclopedia to help me with papers and I visit the library often sometimes just to borrow books that seem interesting to read. This cycle of learning for both Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants can help better each generation as they both learn from one another and work together so that the next generation will know a little from each. Although Digital Natives have more say since the world we live in is based alot off of technology, we still need Digital Immigrants and their intelligence to keep the world moving to a better place.
Attached is a photograph of a Grandfather and his grandson who are using a computer with a calculator near as well.
Marc Prensky’s “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” is an article that should be reviewed by all educators. Prensky overall suggests that educators need to involve themselves into the digital culture instead of resisting it. He claims that in order to get across to a generation that is heavily involved with technology educators need to use technology to teach effectively. Prensky gives his own insight on the problem and mentions what educators need to do,”as educators, we need to be thinking about how to teach both Legacy and Future content in the language of the Digital Natives. The first involves all that PLUS new content and thinking. It’s not actually clear to me which is harder-;learning new stuff’ or ‘learning new ways to do old stuff…’ So we have to invent, but not necessarily from scratch. Adapting materials to the language of Digital Natives has already been done successfully. My own preference for teaching Digital Natives is to invent computer games to do the job, even for the most serious content” (22). Prensky advocates educators to change their ways and to give into new ways of teaching. As a student I like to use different mediums to be taught. I’m more of a visual learner so learning off a powerpoint or being showed a film or a clip that relates to what is being taught helps me learn better. I spend most of my time on the computer and his suggestion of a video game would totally work for me. I understand where he is coming from trying to use video games. Video games can be challenging and require memory and problem solving. While some are harder than others, memory and problem solving still apply regardless of difficulty. If I were given an assignment that had to be done using a video game I would not only learn but find it fun to learn, and because I would be having fun I would more likely become involved with what I’m learning and therefore remembering that topic better than just reading it out of a textbook. The video I have attached relates to Prensky’s suggestion of using technology in the classroom. The video gives 10 examples of why technology should be incorporated in the classroom.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 22. Electronic.
In “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” Marc Prensky argues that our education system needs to change in order to become more effective in teaching the digitally native, American students of the present and future. As Digital Natives, we think differently because we’re growing up differently, with mostly digital experiences (4). “They are used to the instantaneity of hypertext, downloaded music, phones in their pockets, a library on their laptops, beamed messages and instant messaging,” Prensky says. “They’ve been networked most or all of their lives. They have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic, and ‘tell-test’ instruction” (6). The way we consume music illustrates the “Need-it-Now” behavior he discusses. My music library isn’t a large stack of CDs or vinyls: it’s all been digitally downloaded and stored onto my computer. The Digital Revolution has made music incredibly accessible, allowing us to get a new song or album in a few short clicks. Why would I go out an buy a CD when I can get it online cheaper and faster? Not only is music easier to acquire, it’s also more graphical, which Prensky believes appeals to us more. “[Digital Natives] prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite,” he says (6). The only time I hear a song before I see it is on the radio, and I don’t listen to traditional radio very often. For us Digital Natives, how we experience music is both an auditory and a visual experience. We expect eye-catching album covers and merchandise with original, memorable music videos and concerts. Music consumption for a Digital Native is also an experience that is increasingly dependent on social networking. Musicians and their fans rely heavily on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pandora, Last.fm, Spotify, etc. in order to hear, share, and discuss music. For example, embedded is a live video from a deadmau5 concert. You can see that visually, his performance is astounding: incredibly colorful animated graphics with lazers and strobe lights. You can also see there are numerous people filming with their cell phones/digital cameras, people who, like the person who uploaded this YouTube video, will eventually share their experience with everyone on the Internet. This concert exhibits all of the behaviors I have been discussing. If the US educational system referenced our music-consuming behaviors, I think our schooling years would be a lot more effective. Generally, us Digital Natives like to learn actively and socially, through a combination of accessible information, attractive graphics, and stimulating discussion. I know trying to fix a broken system, especially one as important as education, is extremely complicated and not fool-proof, but like Prensky’s article shows, all change begins with an idea.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 4-6 Print.
“First, our methodology. 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. Educators might ask “But how
do we teach logic in this fashion?” While it’s not immediately clear, we do need to figure
it out.” (8). In this passage from his essay Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Marc Prensky demonstrates his idea of a language barrier between teachers and students in our education system. This “language” though is different because it deals more with how people think and learn rather than how they speak and verbally communicate. In today’s society students think of school as a punishment not a privilege and according to Prensky this is because teachers don’t believe in multitasking and making learning fun for their students. Since they (“digital immigrants” as the author calls them) were taught to learn in a very slow paced way, teachers today use the same methods on their students. I do agree that past techniques of teaching will not relate to the Digital Natives (myself included) because we are very different and think and function in a completely new way, but I don’t think that the new ideas and the methods that I hear my fellow Digital Natives proposing will work in the education system’s benefits. It is true that students will not be falling asleep during long and pointless lectures if there are thinking games and activities involved, but they also might not be learning and picking up on as much information. In my experience I have noticed that the step-by-step, one thing at a time approach to learning has worked a lot better when it comes to school. For example during high school I always liked my math and science courses and although it was harder for me to achieve amazing grades in these classes I enjoyed putting the time and effort into them. My senior year I needed a math tutor to help me with an AP Test so I started going to a couple tutors at first to see which I liked best. I learned that the “boring” and step-by-step methods of one tutor helped me feel organized and prepared for the test rather than the other tutor’s methods of teaching through math related computer games and memory tricks. Going back to Prensky’s quote, he states that it is unclear to teachers how to teach logic in a way that Digital Natives will understand. I think that the best way to do this is to incorporate the students more during class. The thing I hated most about high school was that every classroom had a very typical dynamic; the teacher speaks while the students listen. No matter what subject or topic I was learning about the same method was used. It is evident that very rarely can a person sit in silence and take in every concept explained to him/her for a long period of time. This is the reason so many kids feel like school is a waste of time. Why should we sit through class and listen to a teacher speak when we can be reading the same information at home from a 400 page textbook? Teachers should let students make their own inferences on the topics read in these textbook because I always feel like talking about what you are learning helps you understand the information even better. In my opinion games and role-playing as Prensky proposes might not be suitable to all learners, but online discussions, short online quizzes or practices might really help bridge the gap between Digital Immigrant teachers and Digital Native students.
Prensky, Marc .“Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide. Ed. Mark Bauerlein. The Penguin Group, 2011. 8-9 Print.
This video shows techniques for taking notes and studying that can be beneficial to students and teachers because it can speed up the process of learning large amounts of information in an organized and less tiring way.
“Unfortunately, no matter how much the Immigrants may wish it, it is highly unlikely the Digital Natives will go backward. … Smart adult immigrants accept that they don’t know about their new culture learn the new world and take advantage of their kids to help them learn and integrate. Not-so-smart (or not-so-flexible) immigrants spend most of their time grousing about how good things were in the “old country.” (7)
I feel that, out of all the lines of the essay, these very well describe what drives the digital divide, and what it is at its core (which makes the essay all the more appropriate to come right after the book’s introduction). I picked this portion because it’s something something I’ve personally noticed in real life, in my own experiences on the internet, and as a motif in the essays we’ve read so far. For real life, I think of my dad. He is very much a digital immigrant, often reading manuals before starting things (which I think takes too long), and he has periodic trouble with computers on issues that I wouldn’t even notice. He is, however, enthusiastic about technology, and enjoys incorporating useful new programs and tech. He just has an “accent”. With the internet, the first example I thought of was a video of a centenarian woman using a Nintendo DS from her daughter to stay sharp-witted (this is the link I’m including). Finally, with the book, I really think I see essayists like Carr to be one of the “not-so-flexible immigrant” types. He makes a few agreeable points, but overall he comes off as someone who hasn’t learned the right way to work with technology as an intellectual.
A big question I have is, who of the immigrants is most likely to accept and enjoy technology the way a native does? It’s not just based on age (as you’ll see in my link), and we’ve seen in this book that it’s not just based on education (there are brilliant people for and against it). So who would be most likely to be on board?
Link-
“100 year old keeps sharp playing Nintendo DS”