I’ve been reading an article titled ‘Digital natives,
digital immigrants’ by Marc Prensky in my ECO II lessons. There, the author
gives a general definition of what he calls ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital
immigrants’, and how these two groups of people have a an impact on teaching
today. He also criticises traditional teaching methods and activities.
I must say, I found Prensky’s ideas quite
interesting and thought-provoking. I agree with him in many points, especially when
he says ‘today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was
designed to teach’.
However, I personally think the author’s
definitions of ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ are too general and he doesn’t take
into account variables such as socio-economic status which, in my country, is
very influential. Here, although technology is everywhere, it is not available
to anyone. He also generalises when he talks about teachers – apparently, none
of them is trying to include technology in the classroom and all of their
lessons are boring and outdated. Again, I disagree. Many of my secondary school
and university teachers use technology far better than any student.
Nevertheless, there’s never been so much thought
about teaching, learning and the integration with the new technologies as there
is today. We cannot deny the fact that today’s
students are indeed different from the ones in the past and technology is part
of their lives in one way or another, and schools should take that into
account. Its implementation in the classroom will mean less boring lessons, more engaged students; less outdated activities, more useful real-life like stuff.
References:
Prensky, Marc (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press.
Picture retrived from this link.
References:
Prensky, Marc (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press.
Picture retrived from this link.
Hi Lu! I definetely agree with you as regards children are no longer the ones this educational system was designed for, and this is actually the key we need for making education more accesible to this new generation. Great post!
ResponderEliminarMeli the second (ha!)
Great lu! I really like your post, and I haven't thought about the different variables as regards technology accsess that we will encounter in our future classrooms. A big challenge, right?
ResponderEliminarHello Luu! Your entry is very interesting. I’ve never thought of Prensky’s lack of consideration of socio-economic variables when separating digital immigrants from digital natives. Indeed, in our country the socio-cultural status is an important factor when thinking about the relationship of people with technology. I also totally agree with you when you state that Prensky may have not taken into consideration all the teachers’ efforts to include technology in the classroom. Teachers do make an effort to be updated. The problem is, as you well established, that in Argentina not all of students get to be in touch with the latest technology. What’s more, not all classrooms are equipped with the latest technological devices.
ResponderEliminar