Pensky/Boyd

Boyd’s Position

Today we are faced with less concern regarding just providing access to the internet, and more concern with different degrees in skills, critical understanding, and use of technology. Understanding not only how to log on, but how to interpret, evaluate, and participate in different modes and  systems  of information is important to navigate our digital daily life. In Chapter 7 of It's Complicated, Boyd notes that the popular usage of the term  “digital natives” to describe teens as a homogenous group is political, problematic, and fraught with complications.  Boyd also points out how identifying today’s children/teens as “digital natives” is a disadvantage to those who have less Internet access and inevitably may develop more limited technical or media literacy skills. By identifying teens as “digital natives,” and by hiding individual differences, we do not thoroughly address issues of access, critical thinking, and media literacy skills that would allow everyone to benefit from what the Internet and other technologies can offer. "Rather than assuming that youth have innate technical skills, parents, educators, and policymakers must collectively work to support those who come from different backgrounds and have different experiences." (pg. 180)

As Boyd notes on pages 179-180, the use of “digital natives” as a concept to describe a generation also takes away the  responsibility for actively teaching teens (and adults) how to critically understand and navigate a world so driven by networks.  She argues that  the use of “digital natives” as a concept is dangerous because it supports the idea that any effort to develop and increase digital literacies are unnecessary.  Being born into a  digital generation, does not mean that teens are naturally equipped with what is required  to successfully guide themselves and succeed  in a digital society.

 
Prensky's Position

In the article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky it begins with the claim of, "Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach." Prensky says that the students in our classrooms today  are much different learners than the teachers who are in front of the classroom teaching in terms of how they learn and how they process and retain information. The digital immigrants are those people who were not born in a time when technology was not readily available to use at all times and have had to learn over time how to use it. As compared to now, when the use of technology is readily available to the children born, the natives. The natives have been exposed to the use of technology from early on in life and need this to grow and succeed  in today’s classrooms and ever growing digital society. Prensky also points out  that there needs to be a switch in the way in which educators teach because students are losing out due to the “old fashioned” methods of teaching which are still being used today. For example, many teachers primarily use the text as their mode of instruction and the natives get “bored” and are not learning the lessons to their full extent. In class today we discussed this issue and how our students brains are different and we need to change/adjust our curriculum and teaching styles to meet the needs of our digital native students so they can be engaged, motivated and invested in their learning.  Prensky states  that digital immigrant teachers are able to reach digital native students with some work and effort. He makes several tries to show how the typical classroom lesson that would be taught by a digital immigrant could be taught to be more appealing to a digital native.

Our students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. They are learning how to use and navigate technology as they are learning to speak, read and write.  It is natural for digital natives because it is what they have always known.  Not all children have the same access to technology in their homes or classrooms but they are exposed to some form of technology in their daily lives.  I think that overall the shift from the traditional lecture based lessons to a more digital native user friendly format is happening more and more across the U.S. and will continue as more resources and ideas become available and ideas are shared. I agree with Prensky when he states that teachers today do not necessarily need to change the “what” meaning content and curriculum but we need to change the “how” ...the instructional strategies and presentation of material and information. Being a teacher in a school that is made up of a mix  of older (immigrant) teachers and  young(native) teachers I find myself once again falling within the middle.  At times, it can be hard to try and convince the teachers who have been teaching for 20+ years  of all the valuable uses of something such as an iPad that many see as only a game or another gadget/toy.  I also supported many of Boyd's cautions regarding labeling all teens as "digital natives". As teachers we have an even greater responsibility to ensure our students are critically aware of what they are consuming from the Internet. “Teens may make their own media or share content online, but this does not mean that they inherently have the knowledge or perspective to critically examine what they consume. (pg. 177)

Digital Immigrants are adapting to the digital technology introduced during their lifetime. Ironically, some Digital Immigrants created the digital technology used by Digital Natives.