Sunday, July 10, 2011
Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants
I guess I would have to consider myself one of the digital natives. I see it way more evident now in today's youth, but even when I was in school, technologies were starting to come around more and more. A lot of things like computers and cell phones are a part of everyday life now, whereas they were not that popular 10-15 years ago. A lot of teachers I think do try to use games and different technological ways to bridge the gap. I think it is more difficult to "learn new ways" because you are so accustomed and used to your own ways that it is hard to adapt to new ways. We learn new things everyday, but it is still harder to change the way you feel is right. I think when I teach I will try to use a mixture of new and old ways so you are teaching, as well as trying to adapt the old ways of what students are used to. The sentence "As educators, we need to be thinking about how to teach both Legacy and future content in the language of the Digital Natives" is so true explaining that you can and should incorporate different ways to teach. I think no matter which subject you are teaching, you need to make sure each student understands no matter how you get the material across. It may mean it takes you several different ways to teach the same subject, but as long as they are understanding and learning is all that's important.
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I remember hearing my father say, "There is a right way and there is my way. Do it my way." when he was instructing me as a child. Your post makes me think of this comment and how difficult it is for us as humans to first accept that there is an alternative to the way we do things, and second that that alternative may be more efficient, more productive and generally better. You are correct in thinking the onus is on us as teachers to change and bend in order to help our students understanding. As an immigrant I know this can be taxing, but it is so worth it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for blogging Anne,
Kari