Growing up, education and learning was confined to the classroom you went to every day. Knowledge came from the facts that your teachers would present to you and the words read out of a textbook. This is how you learned because this was the only option available to you.
This generation is often referred to as “Digital Immigrants” (Prensky, 2012). This is a generation
who did not grow up with technology, but rather adapted to the use of technology. On the other
hand, the current generation, the “Digital Natives,” did not grow up this way. This generation
has never known a life that didn’t have video games, internet, and computers. Access to
information and knowledge did not come from just reading books and what their parents taught
them. They had the opportunity to learn skills, such as shapes and colors from different apps
found on an iPad. Prensky writes, “...it is very likely that our students’ brains have physically
changed – and are different from ours – as a result of how they grew up” (2012, pg. 1, para. 3).
This differentiation in generations has caused a gap in our education system. The generation of
digital immigrants teaching the digital natives are not connecting because they grew up learning
differently. “It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume
of their interaction with it, today's students think and process information fundamentally
differently from their predecessors” (Prensky, 2012, pg. , para. 4). What worked for them might
not be what will work for these kids. “Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated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” (Prensky, 2012, pg.2, para. 3). In order to fully appreciate and accept online
education, we must understand the information Prensky presented about the differences of digital
immigrants and digital natives. If we can come to accept that our students need a different environment and strategies to learn, we are already moving in the right direction.
Technology is the key in helping enhance education. Prensky writes that in order to
facilitate digital wisdom, distance education must, “avoid uses of technology that are merely
digitally clever, or, worse, digitally dumb” (2012, pg. 1, para 3). Technology should be used
when certain students could learn better from technological resources than from what a teacher is
capable of teaching. In an article I read, “Why We Need Digital Wisdom,” the author writes,
“Our “traditional” thinking is undergoing profound change—so much so that finding the best
combination of mind and technology requires new wisdom—digital wisdom” (Qualcomm, 2012,
para. 10). The information that we teach our students goes out of date too quick for us to teach
them to simply memorize facts. With access to information in the palm of their hands, we must
teach them how to acquire knowledge and skills using technology. Students will benefit more
and be able to enhance their learning if we can teach them how to research and access
information with the use of technology.
While it is clear that technology has the ability to teach information, many of you may
worry that it’s not going to be able to teach the human skills that are taught in a traditional
classroom. Some of these skills include empathy and passion. However, distance education still
has the ability to teach these. You would still have the ability to communicate with your students
and give them encouragement through different messaging systems. Writing emails to students
who are falling behind, to let them know you are there to help, and that it’s not too late to
start over, can help teach the student empathy. The truth is, you don't need to be physically with them to create relationships with the students and let them know that they are cared for. Prensky also suggests that by collecting feedback from the course you could help to show empathy. This will show the students that their opinion is valued and that they are doing everything they can to make this the best learning experience for them.
Prensky writes, “what technology offers education most powerfully is a new and better
way to differentiate instruction and learning: not just by speed, or learning preferences, or
instructor, or even intelligence, but by passion” (2012, pg. 2, para. 5). Teachers can use a variety
of materials including different articles, videos, and websites to teach material. Through these
materials, teachers can connect what they are learning to real-life situations that interest the
students that they teach. For example, teaching exponential functions through the scenario of the
Zombie Apocalypse might have a bigger impact on a student who is passionate about this topic
than just teaching a student how to graph an equation. Teaching a student fractions through
music theory might be the connection they need to understand and appreciate the topic being
taught. Through these connections, students can link their passions to topics being learned in
school. While not every student has the same passion, technology allows for us to send
hundreds of different resources to the students with the click of a button, reaching more students
than in a traditional classroom.
It's natural to feel resistant to this post. I mean, I told you that you couldn't connect to your students because of how you were raised... Try not to take it personally and instead use that energy to get behind online education. The goal of this post was not to make you feel bad about not knowing this about your students. But, my goal was to make you aware that this generation needs more from us as educators. We have all heard that old, grumpy, teacher make a sly comment about how, "kids these days don't know how to communicate because they have their phones glued to them". But maybe it is that grumpy, old, teacher that cannot communicate properly with their students. Maybe that comment alone is why so many are resistant to online education. It's hard to understand that you can still communicate and build relationships with your students, even if you aren't physically talking to them. It's possible because our students do it with each other every day. Just because that's the way it was when you were growing up, doesn't mean it must be that way forever.
This generation is often referred to as “Digital Immigrants” (Prensky, 2012). This is a generation
who did not grow up with technology, but rather adapted to the use of technology. On the other
hand, the current generation, the “Digital Natives,” did not grow up this way. This generation
has never known a life that didn’t have video games, internet, and computers. Access to
information and knowledge did not come from just reading books and what their parents taught
them. They had the opportunity to learn skills, such as shapes and colors from different apps
found on an iPad. Prensky writes, “...it is very likely that our students’ brains have physically
changed – and are different from ours – as a result of how they grew up” (2012, pg. 1, para. 3).
This differentiation in generations has caused a gap in our education system. The generation of
digital immigrants teaching the digital natives are not connecting because they grew up learning
differently. “It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume
of their interaction with it, today's students think and process information fundamentally
differently from their predecessors” (Prensky, 2012, pg. , para. 4). What worked for them might
not be what will work for these kids. “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” (Prensky, 2012, pg.2, para. 3). In order to fully appreciate and accept online
education, we must understand the information Prensky presented about the differences of digital
immigrants and digital natives. If we can come to accept that our students need a different environment and strategies to learn, we are already moving in the right direction.
Technology is the key in helping enhance education. Prensky writes that in order to
facilitate digital wisdom, distance education must, “avoid uses of technology that are merely
digitally clever, or, worse, digitally dumb” (2012, pg. 1, para 3). Technology should be used
when certain students could learn better from technological resources than from what a teacher is
capable of teaching. In an article I read, “Why We Need Digital Wisdom,” the author writes,
“Our “traditional” thinking is undergoing profound change—so much so that finding the best
combination of mind and technology requires new wisdom—digital wisdom” (Qualcomm, 2012,
para. 10). The information that we teach our students goes out of date too quick for us to teach
them to simply memorize facts. With access to information in the palm of their hands, we must
teach them how to acquire knowledge and skills using technology. Students will benefit more
and be able to enhance their learning if we can teach them how to research and access
information with the use of technology.
While it is clear that technology has the ability to teach information, many of you may
worry that it’s not going to be able to teach the human skills that are taught in a traditional
classroom. Some of these skills include empathy and passion. However, distance education still
has the ability to teach these. You would still have the ability to communicate with your students
and give them encouragement through different messaging systems. Writing emails to students
who are falling behind, to let them know you are there to help, and that it’s not too late to
start over, can help teach the student empathy. The truth is, you don't need to be physically with them to create relationships with the students and let them know that they are cared for. Prensky also suggests that by collecting feedback from the course you could help to show empathy. This will show the students that their opinion is valued and that they are doing everything they can to make this the best learning experience for them.
Prensky writes, “what technology offers education most powerfully is a new and better
way to differentiate instruction and learning: not just by speed, or learning preferences, or
instructor, or even intelligence, but by passion” (2012, pg. 2, para. 5). Teachers can use a variety
of materials including different articles, videos, and websites to teach material. Through these
materials, teachers can connect what they are learning to real-life situations that interest the
students that they teach. For example, teaching exponential functions through the scenario of the
Zombie Apocalypse might have a bigger impact on a student who is passionate about this topic
than just teaching a student how to graph an equation. Teaching a student fractions through
music theory might be the connection they need to understand and appreciate the topic being
taught. Through these connections, students can link their passions to topics being learned in
school. While not every student has the same passion, technology allows for us to send
hundreds of different resources to the students with the click of a button, reaching more students
than in a traditional classroom.
It's natural to feel resistant to this post. I mean, I told you that you couldn't connect to your students because of how you were raised... Try not to take it personally and instead use that energy to get behind online education. The goal of this post was not to make you feel bad about not knowing this about your students. But, my goal was to make you aware that this generation needs more from us as educators. We have all heard that old, grumpy, teacher make a sly comment about how, "kids these days don't know how to communicate because they have their phones glued to them". But maybe it is that grumpy, old, teacher that cannot communicate properly with their students. Maybe that comment alone is why so many are resistant to online education. It's hard to understand that you can still communicate and build relationships with your students, even if you aren't physically talking to them. It's possible because our students do it with each other every day. Just because that's the way it was when you were growing up, doesn't mean it must be that way forever.
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