Reflective Post #1: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Are students today fundamentally different than students in the past?

I believe students today are the same fundamentally as students in the past.  I don’t believe the students have changed at all, but the world around them has changed.  The students of today still work toward the same “goals” as students of the past: acquiring a higher education and succeeding in everyday life.  The difference between students of the past and students of the present is the means to achieving these goals.  Students today have a surplus of resources available to use in finding the answer to any question they may have.  The rise of technology has impacted the way students learn and the way they’re taught, but fundamentally the students remain the same in my opinion.

Summary of Prensky’s Article:

                Prensky defines Digital Natives as “a “native speaker” of the digital language of computers, video games, and the internet.”

                Digital Immigrants are “Those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are, and always will be compared to them.”

                In his article, Prensky refers to students of the present (2001) as being digital natives and educators or present (again 2001) as digital immigrants.  The article reflects on the upbringing of digital natives and what engages them (i.e. video games, short videos, multi-tasking, and frequent rewards).  The contrasting style of upbringing is having a huge impact on classroom interactions between the educator and students, according to the article.  Prensky goes on to say that “today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students” meaning the curriculum that was used in the past needs to be re-evaluated and adapted to the students’ learning styles of the present.

Summary of DT Quin’s Blog:

                In his blog, DT Quin argues the ideas presented in Prensky’s article of the existence of digital natives and digital immigrants.  Quin’s blog was more recently published (2013) and he does acknowledge the fact that Prensky’s article could’ve been more relevant in 2001, but is not the case today.  Quin points out educators have also gone through changes in the digital era in the way they teach/present information, which is nearly the exact opposite of what Prensky asserts.  Quin is also in agreement with several topics presented in the Prensky article, like the learning style of the digital natives (attention spans decrease and “twitch speed” increase as humans are exposed to digital media).  Quin makes the point that the majority of educators are adapting to the digital era and that Prensky’s assertions are no longer relevant to today’s educational system.  Educators should continuously be thinking about ways to adapt their teaching strategies.

Re-evaluation of Opinion:

               After reading both the article and blog post, I stand by my opinion that students have not changed fundamentally, but technology has changed to education system.  The Quin blog post reflects my thoughts on the subject and I understand the struggles an educator faces to teach during the digital era.  The Prensky article is lacking of evidence to support the claim that students today have changed fundamentally from students of old.  I believe the terms used by Prensky are “out-dated” and less relevant in today’s digital society.  As an educator I believe we will always be facing changing times and adapting the strategies we use to promote learning in our classrooms and relate to our students.