Prensky & Digital Natives

From: David Saxe

Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 11:00 AM

Just to clarify, this term "digital native," is not mine. I stole it from Mark Prensky, who coined the phrase in this 2001 paper: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Great reading if you care to check it out. Many since have followed his ideas and of course that has lead us into using many other technologies that our current "millennial" students use daily.

About the electronic publishing pieces, I just have hard time with the interface. On my ipod, or on the kindle, looking at the electronic letters doesn't suit my aging eyes. I much prefer the printed text on paper for my eyes, but the other physical pieces of enjoying reading or even reading for work is improved if it is on paper. There is a physical difference for me, and sometimes there is even some difference in comprehension!

DS

From: Lisa Petrie

Thanks for the link, Dave!

I appreciate Prensky's historical viewpoint, but I would challenge much of what he's saying. I feel he makes many generalizations, displays a clear bias as a software developer & company owner, and shows no solid evidence to back up his theories. I can't get past his premise. He says:

"… the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.”

Really...? :)

There's definitely a growing body of evidence to suggest that the single biggest factor in determining a kid's success in the classroom is the quality of his teacher. (Actually, a few of the videos that you sent to us in your last link illustrate that point quite clearly.) But never have I seen evidence to suggest that this has anything to do with a teacher's ability to use digital technology. There are folks here at school who use zero digital technology in the classroom; I think they're fabulous teachers.

So, I'm not so sure...? Just like I'm not sure that having access to GarageBand, and the ability to post one's music online, makes our students better musicians....? It's quite likely those students would benefit more from having an hour every day in school to get instruction from a teacher, and play music together. And though I'm sure it's thrilling for them to post their music online, it doesn't give them the same bona fides as a "published" artist. Much of the self-published stuff online is nothing most of us would ever pay for.

I absolutely appreciate how technology can enhance what we do. (I have no plans to give up my salad spinner any time soon!) But subject-area knowledge, classroom management skills, interpersonal skills, passion & committment, creativity, attitude, etc., are much better indicators of what make a teacher great.

L.

From: John Ranta
Sent: Fri 12/18/2009 7:04 AM

Dave, thanks for the link! Much of what Prensky says makes sense to me, and fits with other research I’ve been doing for my Career Growth. Henry Jenkins, at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/) has been doing similar research into how kids today (Prensky’s “digital natives”) are developing different skills and learning styles than those of us who grew up in previous generations.

Prensky goes on in Chapter 2 to present his evidence (http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf). He covers the research into “digital” brain development in much the same way that Maryanne Wolf does for reading brains in “Proust & the Squid”. His work is consistent with other brain development research.

I think that, if all other things are equal, a good teacher that is facile with digital media is a more effective teacher than a good teacher who is not.

JR

From: Lisa Petrie
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 8:29 AM

Maryanne Wolf is a neuroscientist, and speaks in terms of evolutionary biology. Prensky is a game developer, looking to sell his software to schools, and is speaking more in terms of social behavior. Their work is not consistent. Just sayin'. :)

But yes, I think I could agree that a teacher who is "facile with digital media" is probably more effective than a teacher who is not. I think we need to be really careful in the way we approach this, though. Many teachers here observe that some of our new technological tools are distractions. Is this because our teachers are "digital immigrants", and just don't understand those pesky teenagers...? Or, is it because some of these new technologies are actually impediments to learning...?

I think it's fair to be open-minded about the latter.

L.

From: David Saxe
Sent: Fri 12/18/2009 10:40 AM

I think that it remains to be seen if the new technologies are actually impediments to learning. I’m kind of interested in learning new things all the time, and the new technologies fit the bill for me along with lots of reading (books in print, scholarly articles, etc.). I clearly don’t have a deep understanding of millennial students and pesky teenagers, but using technologies for teaching just seems like the right thing to do now. Students almost willingly accept the technological challenges, and I’m sneaking in some content that I think is important and relevant to their long term health.

For instance, I’m learning more about google maps, planning on having students create digital google maps to use for our programs. Sounds like fun for the students, fun for me, and getting some important content and fitness in the process of creating the maps!

DS

From: Lisa Petrie
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 11:30 AM

I absolutely agree with you, Dave -- teaching with technology can be very powerful. I'm just one of those folks who feels very strongly that, when we do that, the instructional focus should be the content (mountain biking, yoga, Shakespeare, etc.), and not the technology itself.

I think we all know and believe this. But I also think that it's really, really easy to fall into the trap of letting the technology itself be the star of the show. For instance, we are the "Technology" Open Space group. Maybe we should be the "Best Practice in Curriculum Delivery" Open Space group, or something like that...? :)

This argument becomes particularly relevant when introducing "digital immigrants" to new classroom teaching tools. There will definitely be more interest and by-in if we focus on their curriculum and teaching, than on that scary technology stuff.

L.

From: Dave Saxe

I think that there is a bit of give and take. Like teaching writing for instance, Chris Herold looks carefully at the writing skills themselves in addition to the content of the subject matter (Middle East Peace debates, European Union, etc.). Just an example of our ?obligation? to teach more than just content.

DS