Understanding Students Who Were "Born Digital"

The piece Understanding Students Who Were "Born Digital", is an interview with the authors who wrote "Born Digital : Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives". This book is for parents and teachers to "understand" what their kids do (I assume in regards with technology and such). The natives are considered from grade school to higher education. The interview covered topics such as : whether or not to ban internet in class, evolution of libraries, and whether students are learning differently as a result of new technology.

I think this book they wrote is unnecessary. I think it's being made a bigger deal than it really is, of course a $$$ deal. It's like one of those scares you see every night on tv.... remember Y2K and how the world was supposed to blow up because computers weren't supposed to be smart enough to put 00, instead of 99? Well, maybe not that extreme. I like the way they answered their questions because well, #1 they actually answered their question and got straight to the point, and 2, they showed both sides of the pro's and con's of the internet in today's education. They showed why it's good to have internet in the classroom for a cyberlaw professor (never heard of that before), and why it's not necessary in first year courses. Also, I support their statement on "technology on its own can do nothing, rather it's a tool for teachers adnd students to put to work in support". I think that summarizes it well because things like computers are almost necessary in education today, or atleast at the university for research, word processing, note-taking, etc. but the internet will not do your paper for you, look up your research for you, or take notes for you. It just makes life easier, and more efficient when it comes to school work. As for the distractions it may cause --- I do not think that is as big of a deal as it's made out to be... sure it does distract, but if a student is not so inclined to learn about subjects he/she is enrolled in, then so be it. Thus far, I've determined that success is attained by the work you put into whatever it may be. If you can go on the internet, or go on your iPhone (so played out now)during class and not pay attention, yet still achieve the grade you would like, then great, if you don't achieve the grade that you want, then you should probably stay on tract during class, lectures, etc. So yes, technology can be a distraction, but I don't think it's something you need to ban with adults that make their own decisions daily.... perhaps in high school or middle school there can be a ban, but in no way would that work in a university setting.

Digital Naitvies

On wednesday we read a short piece about "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants". This was a rather interesting story on this generation and the technology revolution, and the prior generations, or the "old school". Mentioned were how students and professors interact in learning. It was suggested that "today's students are no longer the people our educational system is designed to teach" . It went on to say that todays generation has been surrounded by video games, tv, cell phones and other electronics and spend more time playing video games than reading. A professor of medicine suggested that "our students brains have physically changed", and just think differently than before. A main point in the article is that the professors now are having a hard time teaching "a population that speaks an entirely new language".

I agreed with most of the things mentioned in the article, but I did not agree that "legacy" content (math, reading, writing, logic) should become less important than "future" content (ethics, politics, sociology, languages). I think Legacy content is still the foundation for schools and should not be brushed aside. I have not seen or experience a problem with the way classes are taught or the way lectures are conducted. I still prefer to write out notes rather than typing. I think the interaction between the students and teachers is very important in classes -- especially the "cps" unit we have here at wayne.... it implements new ways of thinking and learning during lectures through these interactions, rather than just the teacher talking the whole lecture. I also think that we as a whole have become far less social as a result of cell phones, text messaging, myspace, facebook, AIM, etc. I can remember being a kid and going to my neighbors house ringing the doorbell, talkin to their parents, and all that fun stuff. Then, later when I got a cell phone I used to call up my friends to talk or hang out, and now it's gotten to a point where I don't even call my friends much, I just text message instead. The interactions have become less emotional in a sense where talking to someone online and in person are two completely different methods of communication and I can only imagine what 5 years from now technology will bring us.