Digital natives or Digital immigrants?
It is a well-known fact that our world is dynamic and humans need to adapt to the changes that come along with development. Hence, change is not only part of our daily lives and routines but also what characterizes the progress of our society. Digital technology has rapidly spread within the last decades and has brought changes in the way we receive information and interact with the world that surrounds us. The twentieth century is marked by the use of computers, Internet, mobile phones, social media and other technological devices. The use of these tools has implied a change in the way we receive information and, therefore, we learn. New abilities and capacities have arisen from the need to adapt to this Digital Era, but have we acquired these new skills?
Children and young people upbringing has been mainly influenced by new technologies. They are surrounded by screens and technological devices that shape the way they understand and approach life. They learn differently and comprehend much better than adults the world we live in. Mark Prensky employs the word Digital Natives to describe this generation as "native speakers of the digital language of computer, video games and the internet” (Prensky, 2001a : 3). Because of our student's exposure to and interaction with the digital world they process the information and think different to what adults are used to. They don't understand linearity as they have learnt to multi-task and receive and change information really fast. Prensky (2001a) uses the word "Digital Immigrants” to describe those who have had to learn how digital world works.
There is a gap between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants that affect to our educational system. Digital Immigrants are usually those who teach Digital Natives about our world, a world, that as I introduced, children might understand better than Digital Immigrants. The methodologies that our teachers use in the classroom are stuck in the past as they hold obsolete values and beliefs no longer valid for our digital society. There is an emphasis on saying that students are distracted at all times and that they don't pay attention due to their high exposure to new technological devices. What if those who don't pay attention to our children's needs are adults? We need to reckon that they understand the world differently and, therefore, adapt our teaching methods to their real needs. Creativity and divergent thinking are crucial to change how we teach our children. It is teachers who need to adapt to their students and not the opposite. Regarding this issue it is important to say that not only we have to look to how the digital era is affecting our children's learning and socialization but also how are the individual and unique needs of each child. Considering the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Gardner teachers also need adapt their methods to the specific needs of each child. Making learning fun is one of the strategies that might work in achieving this goal. This view is also compiled in Prensky's work (2001b).
List of references:
Prensky, Marc (2001a): "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1",On the Horizon, Vol. 9 Iss: 5: 1 - 6.
Prensky, Marc (2001b): "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 2: Do They Really Think Differently?",On the Horizon, Vol. 9 Iss: 6, pp.1 - 6
Robinson, Ken (2008, June 16th):Changing Education Paradigms[Video file]. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=youtu.be
0 comentaris: