Digital Students vs. Digital Immigrant Teachers #5

What is happening to the U.S. education system? We look around and we see brand new schools being built with some pretty exceptional technology. This technology, however, seems to be limited to the cafeteria, security system, and computers. These newer schools and even some of the older ones that have upgraded may have computer labs boasting of some up-to-date systems in them. That is commendable; however, our concern should be on the classrooms themselves and the teaching styles in them. How have they been upgraded?

“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach,” is the observation of Marc Prensky in his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. (Prensky, October 2001.) Students today have grown up with computers, video games, mp3 players, cell phones, and many other digital toys. It is estimated that college graduates have spent less than 5,000 hours reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games. Everything is at their fingertips. Also an integral part of their lives are the internet, e-mail, instant messaging, and live chats. Even more recently is the addition of smart mobs, blogs, wikis, modding, and more.

Prensky terms these students of today “Digital Natives” for they are considered “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.
So for those who did not grow up with this environment but are willing to incorporate and adopt most aspects of the new technology, compared to the “natives”, Prensky terms these ones “Digital Immigrants”. I like how he uses the comparison even when talking about our accent. Even when these immigrants successfully adapt to their new environment they always retain, to some degree, their accent (like the author says, “their foot in the past”). For example, the author says that they will look to the internet for information second rather than go there first. Other examples of a “digital immigrant accent” is printing out a document to edit it rather than editing it on the screen. Or having someone come to your office to see a website rather than just sending them the link for it. It is funny to think of it, however when it comes to education, it becomes a serious matter. I have experienced that myself with several colleagues. It is like they refuse to immerse themselves into technology because they are afraid of walking on unknown soil; I can imagine it would be like an immigrant would feel. Prensky considers “the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language”.

Students of today can receive, process, and adapt to information rapidly. In other words, they are capable of doing several things at the same time. They are used to parallel processing. I have noticed how well my students perform when we complete activities that require the use of computers, the Internet. As many specialists have said, students of today function on “instant gratification and frequent rewards.” They want to learn with games that provide immediate feedback. On the other hand, take for instance us, the teachers of today, which the author calls “Digital Immigrants”, mostly because we may have very little appreciation for these new techniques that the “Natives” have learned and perfected through years of use. Because some us did not grow up in the “Digital Era”, we are considered to be “Immigrants”, who learned – and now choose to teach – “slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time, individually, and above all, seriously”, as the author implies. Where are we?

In his article, Twitch Speed Learning, Keeping up with Young Workers, Prensky identifies ten cognitive styles that differentiate Digital Natives from Digital Immigrants (Prensky, 1998). Of those I chose some that I found very interesting. They are:

“Connected vs. Stand Alone
Since 1970, the communication revolution has moved from a world connected by telephone (a synchronous communication tool), to a worldwide network of communications (both synchronous and asynchronous) including e-mail, bulletin boards, broadcast messages, chat rooms, etc.
As a result, new learning tools have developed to access knowledge, whether they be listserve, users groups, wikis, blogs or outsourced customer support centers in Ireland or India. "

“Payoff vs. Patience
According to Dr. Jeanne B. Funk, a psychologist with the University of Toledo, a game-playing child typically spends between 5 and 9 hours a week playing video games. What is it that keeps this child engaged for hundreds of hours attempting to learn and master a computer game?
Part of the explanation is that computer games have mastered the dynamic of feedback and “payoff.” The challenge remains for educators to develop similar interactive rewards dynamics for learning content."

“Technology as Friend vs. Technology as Foe
Finally, “digital immigrants” perceive technology as something to be feared tolerated or at best harnessed to one’s purpose. Digital natives perceive computers as their friend. Whether working, playing, relaxing or communicating, younger learners actively search out ways to use technology to construct a new cognitive environment."

As educators of today, it is important to know how our students process new information, and what kind of activities are engaging to them. Moreover, the curriculum should be structured to make room for more creativity. As a Spanish teacher, I try to present the different vocabularies using many colorful graphics. I have noticed that they respond best when the visual stimulation is appealing. Many of them are not just visual learners, but also kinetic learners, they like to be actively involved in the learning process. Therefore, I have included activities that require them to create with technology. For example, students will compose and send electronic e-mails in Spanish. They will create Power Point presentations about themselves, their families, and their favorite activities, among others. Also, they are required to use the Internet to investigate about other cultures and countries, to solve problems, to plan vacations and more. The challenge is to recognize the learning strategies that are appropriate for “Digital Natives”, understand the different ways they process information and design learning tools that will get the most from their exceptional skills.