Amy Capelle has started a very interesting discussion in Ning's Classroom2.0
She asks, "Are they really digital natives?"
The discussion there is great! Here is my response:
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"I come from the Batman era, adding items to my utility belt while students today are the Borg from Star Trek, assimilating technology into their lives."
That's a quote I use to differentiate digital immigrants from digital natives.
BUT I have realized that it is much more about comfort level & exposure than it is about age. While I am helping some frustrated students open a sign-up verification e-mail, other students have logged into the new site, added a photo, and changed the appearance of their personal page.
There are three digital divides here preventing me from effectively using technology in the classroom. (Two from my post, and the 3rd added from the Classroom2.0 discussion.) These divides are the gaps between:
1. What I know and what I need to know.
2. What the school has in the way of technology and what it needs to have.
3. What skills/abilities students enter my class with.
#1 I can change.
#2 will never change fast enough.
#3 is the shift in this conversation.
I have both immigrants and natives in my class, so the distinction is moot.
In another post I said,
"And then there is my class Science Alive! wiki... "I think that I am guilty of seeing the value of using technology in guiding learning, but not effectively guiding learning in my technology use."
I have done a pretty good job of getting my students going... but now as momentum builds I have come to the realization that I don't have a marking rubric to guide me, or my students, as we move towards a final product.
My class is assembling a lego model without the instructions, or even the image of the final product on the front of the box. This isn't a problem for the creative/motivated students; they will assembly a better model in ways that I could never have 'instructed' them... but some students need structure, they have been fed it for years and expect it (even from yours truly - this isn't finger pointing, it is observation).
I let technology supersede pedagogy."
Digital immigrants or digital natives is nothing more than a discussion of digital competence... it is a spectrum, not a dichotomy!
Where does this leave us?
We want all of our students to be digitally competent.
We want all of our students to be articulate thinkers.
We need to make this happen in pedagogically sound ways.
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Let us go to the very beginning of the whole debate and none other Mark Prensky himself. In his article, Adopt and Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom, Prensky says:
"...technology adoption... It's typically a four-step process:
1. Dabbling.
2. Doing old things in old ways.
3. Doing old things in new ways.
4. Doing new things in new ways."
I think we get excited when we see 'new things in new ways', but often we end up (re)creating old things in new ways. The real conversation needs to be around the constraints of curriculum and standardized testing.
"This is why the foundation of education systems today should not be the rails, but it should be the side trips. It should not be the central standard curriculum, but it should be those directions that students, that learners, both teachers and students, can navigate to on their own." (David Warlick)
New things in new ways... creating articulate thinkers... and building digital competence as a by-product.
Keywords: adept, adopt, Amy Capelle, articulate thinking, Batman, Borg, classroom2.0, curriculum, datruss, David Truss, David Warlick, digital competence, digital divide, digital immigrants, digital natives, food for thought, learning, Mark Prensky, ning, pair-a-dimes, pedagogy, teaching, technology, technology adoption, wiki
Comments
David,
You always do such a great job of bringing things together, focusing on what is truly important and not the chaff. Schools and school jusrisdictions are slow moving in so many ways. They are not adept at recognizing change or at responding to that change. This, at times, has been a very useful such as when bandwagon ideas and such were not able to make big headway. However, we have come to a time when change is necessary and vital to our ability to prepare students to transition to that place we call world. Unfortunately we cannot continue to wait until everyone has reached stage 3 or 4 as outlined by Prensky because, as you point out, our students aren't even there. With the shifting sands of technology, I don't believe we will ever get there. Educators will need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, with change being a constant and not having all the answers. When we realize that we, too, can be borglike if we but allow ourselves the opportunity to revel in the change and not fear it, helping our students will become synomamous with helping ourselves. Keep writing, David. You have a gift for sifting and finding that nugget. Btw, I'd like to try the bookclub idea again. Interested?
Thanks for your kind words Kelly!
"Educators will need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, with change being a constant and not having all the answers."
What a great point. We expect our students to change, grow, and be lifelong learners... should we not do the same!
Yes, I would like to try the book club again, and yes we can make it work this time... but I need a couple more weeks before I can think of opening a book for pleasure. Do you have any in mind?
David,
You certainly have a great take and grasp on the issues education faces, especially in regards to technology in and out of the classroom. I've enjoyed so much, your "thoughts".
Isn't that what it is all about? Whether it be a violin, a pen or a mouse - this interaction with ourself, the fertilizing of ourself to bring more splendour and light into the world?
We are doing that here, you are doing it so well with your blog. It is your violin. I enjoyed the stories so much and you've inspired me and I think I'll start a story of the day on my own site - stories for teachers.
I'm gonna keep lurkin' :)
David
...;And a question on the side… What do you call a digital ‘immigrant’ that is fully immersed in a digital world? I am an immigrant...