Digital Native/Immigrant Reflection

Day 1 Reflection

After reading the articles on technology, I am convinced that I am a digital native. While reading through some of the differences between natives and immigrants, I undoubtedly fit into the native category. I always turn to the internet first for information, even phone numbers and print articles. I rely heavily on the computer for communication in both my personal and academic life. I rarely need directions in how to use programs or the internet, and am have a “trial and error” mindset when it comes to learning new programs. I have had access to a computer for as long as I can remember.

The first article I read, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” (Prensky, 2001) reflects on the way teachers and students are at a conflict within the classroom. Prensky (2001) states, “We can say with certainty that (students’) thinking patterns have changed.” In this quote, Prensky refers to the way technology has changed students’ thinking patterns in contrast to many of their teachers who are digital immigrants. In high school, I too dealt with the slow instruction of some teachers who did not use technology in the classroom. I often found the instruction to be boring, but I don’t believe it was due to the lack of technology. Instead, I found it to be attributed to a lack of passion on the teacher’s behalf. They were not excited and engaging, and therefore, neither were we.

In college I have found that most instructors put effort into including technology in the classroom. Most require powerpoints to be done for presentations, but few require much else. This type of incorporation is nice, but it doesn’t do a whole lot more to engage the student. Instead, it seems like a weak attempt to include technology in a way that isn’t really necessary. I have yet to find a teacher that has used technology to really enhance my learning.

In my own classroom, I hope to use technology to get students excited and also to differentiate instruction. Every student is different, and I believe that they should have options to complete assignments in formats that engage then. Prensky (2005) states, “Rather than being empowered to choose what they want…and to see what interests them…and to create their own personalized identity – as they are in the rest of their lives – in school, they must eat what they are served.” This is an outdated view of teaching. Great teachers know that instruction should be differentiated to meet the needs of all different learning styles. Children should have choices in their own learning and this idea is becoming more and more common in the classroom. It is this choice that makes learning engaging. Prensky (2005) also states, “In my view, it’s not ‘relevance’ that’s lacking for this generation, it’s engagement.” I would disagree with Prensky and say that both components are lacking in a majority of classrooms. Too often, students are not told WHY something matters, and that lack of relevance removes them from the subject being taught. It is important for teachers to not only engage students, to show them why the subject matters and how it will pertain to their life in the “real world.”