Marc Prensky Article (Week #3 Post)

This article was intriguing for me. I love the idea of incorporating more technology into the classroom especially being one of the students that grew up with the rise of technology. I thought the distinction between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants was an interesting but very poignant way of putting the dichotomy between the two. I however, didn’t know the extent of the differences to be actual way of processing thoughts. Afterwards, though, the concept made a lot of sense to me. I agree that the students of this day are more about the instantaneous and the multi-tasking. As a matter of fact they were just discussing this idea as it relates to children’s programming on the Today Show (click here to view video). Thus, as educators we need to realize that and tailor lessons to this. I also really enjoyed the idea that was presented about accepting the differences in learning styles and language and then using this new knowledge to actually teach the students. Teachers must become familiar with the technology not only available to them in their classrooms but also the technology that their students are using on a daily basis. It was really hard for me to adjust to coming to NU from my former university. There, every class we took notes on our computers, teachers posted their power points before class so you could go along with, and our version of discovery was widely used for everything to a school where most professors (that I have had) prefer to have students not use their computers in class. This article however really made me wonder how much of a digital native am I really? I feel as though I am part of that weird generation that because we grew up with the rise of technology and the dot-com era we are familiar but are we really natives? This made me then wonder how I would be able to teach to a group of students who really are digital natives and know no time when they didn’t have computers in their classrooms and when SMART boards were non-existent. I am excited to see where tech in the classroom goes and to discover how I am going to be able to integrate it into my lessons.