Marc Prensky
wrote this paper in 2001 and he obviously had a good grasp on digital natives perhaps
his own children were part of his study so I can understand why this article
was so influential.
I am not a
digital native but I love to use technology and learn from my students and
children. My sons have taught me more
about technology than any lesson, text book or course in passing comments and
in the “How do you not know this mum?” moments. I am definitely not a digital immigrant
because I believe children can learn in a variety of ways and it should be fun.
My students
are definitely digital natives. Five and
six year old children are so comfortable using smart phones, iPads and tablets
so when we use them in Kindergarten they are engaged and love to learn using
games. I have found that while they are
comfortable using these items they are not as comfortable using computers and
keyboards. Keyboards are challenging to
Kindergarten children as the letters are all uppercase and some children find
it difficult to identify uppercase letters unless they are in the child’s name.
It appears the children have less experience using computers and keyboards so
we need a little more explicit teaching of the keys and skills on this type of
technology. I think the variety of experiences of technology is just like any
other subject. Teachers need to know
their students prior knowledge to plan and program for the needs of their
students. Like other subjects there
will be a range of abilities and teachers need to be able to cater for all the
learning needs at whatever level their students are at.
After
reading this article I wondered about the differences in our brain. The sentence “..students think and process
information differently from their predecessors” really helped me understand
the differences and the challenges I face in the classroom. It also makes me
feel better as a mum when my children tell me that I just don’t get it.
I can
understand that some teachers have issues not being the “expert” when teaching
technology but most of these teachers are digital immigrants and do not value
learning from children. This issue has been discussed at school but until these
teachers change their way of thinking or retire the issue will unfortunately remain.
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