Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Digital Natives in the Classroom
Digital Natives are all around us. They populate our classrooms and walk focused and connected around our campuses. We are their Digital Immigrant professors, full of learned knowledge and lacking in technical acumen. When we gather in class there is often a disconnection. It is not really anyone's fault. We just need to converge our thoughts and share our discoveries.
My journey toward understanding the Digital Native is in full motion this semester, as I teach a course at Ashland University called The Global Impact of Social Media. The class is a fantastic forum for appreciating the vast power, and pitfalls, of Facebook, Twitter and other novel Web 2.0 tools. In class discussions and online demonstrations, I am growing more and more impressed with my digitally- cogent students. And I am learning, too.
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Hello David--
ReplyDeleteI just read your piece in the Faculty Focus e-zine. I totally agree with your advice, especially about how using social networks can be a great way to engage students, and how WE need to be using them before we ask our students.
I do have a question, though. I've noticed that my students, digital natives, are surprisingly un-savvy about Web 2.0. They use facebook, maybe Twitter, and shop on-line, but I don't know too many who are really "in the drivers' seat" in terms of using the net.
In fact, of my 16 journalism workshop students this term, 0 have kept a blog!
Most of them don't know how to change settings on facebook.
Have you noticed this as well--that they think they use Web 2.0 and social media, but they are really being used? And how do you help make them more savvy about what they are doing?
I guess this is just one more reason for us to learn to be good users of what the internet offers.
I'm going to add your blog to my Google Reader (another tool none of my journalism students knew about . . . )
(p.s. I am a 1984 graduate of The College of Wooster, a neighbor of Ashland U! I teach at Coe College in Iowa now)
I teach psychology at a community college in Hawaii. Most of my students admit I’m more tech savvy than they are (and I’m an OLD teacher)! Not all of us are Digital immigrants ☺
ReplyDeleteMy students know how to text a friend or use Facebook, but beyond that they have a serious problem. None use Twitter or Google Reader and none even know what a blog is, much less write one.
I asked one class to set up a Facebook page where everyone could meet to coordinate certain class work, but they didn’t want anything to do with that.
In another class listed as a Writing Intensive course (Psych and the Expressive Arts), I asked everyone to write a blog. They eventually did the work, but did so while kicking and screaming.
When I ask a student to look up something on the web browser of their cell phone, they are shocked! Most teachers take away their cell phones in class. I simply ask them to stand up and sing for us if it goes off!
I use an online program where assignments are given and all their work is to be turned in online. “I take no paper,” is what I tell them when they try to give me a scribbled sheet of paper.
We use iTunesU where I post recordings I want them to hear. When I explained to one faculty member that I converted .wma files to mp3, she asked “What’s an mp3?”
I hope you write one post that can help me convince the students themselves to embrace digital education.
I just read your piece in the Faculty Focus e-zine and have to agree with Lucy about the versatility that today's teacher have when it comes to digital applications. We have it, we're ready and willing!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I teach business at a college in Canada and in my experience there is a big difference between the ability to engage in social media and the ability to learn and use specialized business platforms. We tend to confuse ability to handle gadgets with ability to troubleshoot business applications. I find students with a large presence on the web have little to no patience to learn applications such as SAP and their ability to surf and blog doesn't impact the ability to learn, understand and apply specialized competences. Considering that the number 1 employment skill required is skill competency augmented by research ability and communication, I don't think we should jump the gun and impugn the teachers for their digital incompetence or fear of being replaced (as per your article:" If students are so much more versed than faculty in the technology, then I, as a teacher, cannot teach them."), but clearly distingush and communicate to the students the proper application of digital media. The digital media is changing the education paradigm but, I wonder: are the students ready to embrace it? Aren't we fooling ourselves in trying to speed up a process that needs more time to assimilate? Would like to know your thoughts about this. cdima@niagaracollege.ca
I teach technology in a private school in Puerto Rico to a 12 grade students and because they can text, and socila media (limited) they think they are using technology and they are savy enough not to learn,I give the class hybrid and using Blackboard some of them like it, but the majority don't.I am totally agree that some of us know more than them even we emigrant. We need to teach tech from the early grade.Only them they would be really Native.
ReplyDelete