This week in my EdTech 537 course, we are asked to address this question. I have already given my thoughts about these articles in an earlier blog post found here.
If a colleague came up to me and expressed belief in the notion that our current students are digital natives and must be taught differently, I would be hard-pressed to disagree. While I don't want to begin researching more articles to support Prensky and refute McKenzie, I think there is more to both sides of the story.
Based on my current knowledge and research I might tell my colleague that while technology has not fundamentally changed students and their brains, technology has changed the world we are preparing them for. Most of our current school models were designed during the Industrial Revolution, preparing students for work in a factory. Content knowledge was safely kept with the teacher to be given out in controlled portions. Technology has changed our world. Most of these students will not be working in factories. We are preparing them for jobs that probably don't exist yet. Teachers are fooling themselves if they think their classroom lecture is the only means for students to discover the content. Information can be found in a matter of seconds.
The brains of our students are not functioning differently due to technology, technology has changed our world and demands that our schools and our teaching change to better serve and prepare our students.
Kaelyn:
ReplyDeleteYou have an excellent point when you clarify that student brains have not changed, but the world has changed in which we are preparing students. Also, thank you for stating that you would find it difficult to disagree with the digital native philosophy. I also had a hard time refuting this statement. Like you I decided to state just that!!
"We are preparing them for jobs that probably don't exist yet." Thank you!! For example, I do not remember criminal forensics as an option when I was in college.
"Teachers are fooling themselves if they think their classroom lecture is the only means for students to discover the content." I have finally adopted my own personal policy...I do not look things up in the index, glossary or table of contents anymore, as it is much faster to "google it"!!
-Angie
Angie, Thanks for all of the affirmation. I really appreciate it.
DeleteI agree completely that our world has changed. While sometimes I did think at one time our kids' brains have changed, I realize now that it isn't them but rather the world around them. They are just making changes to live in a different world.
ReplyDeleteI agree, technology has not changed the brains of our students. Learning theory research can attest to that. However, you are correct, the school model is technically the same as it was over 100 years ago. We have to adapt to these changes; however, we must keep in mind that technology does not do this by itself. Teachers that utilize the technology in meaningful ways help change the model. I, personally, teach my students to look up information the old-fashion way in dictionaries and encyclopedias as well as computer researching skills - I think they are both important to know!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, students needs to get a sense of something like why they make notecards for a research paper before they can skip that step or use technology to help it go faster.
DeleteKaelyn, I think you've hit the nail on the head when you say that technology has changed the world we are preparing students for. For the most part, students will have too much information to do any given job, and will need to filter and analyze to determine what is needed. Giving students carefully controlled portions of knowledge, with no extraneous information and nothing missing, doesn't really help them in the long run. Life is messy, and maybe it's time that the way we teach students gets a little messier too!
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that our brain hasn't changed. But changes around us have been happening really fast lately if you compare it with revolutionary changes through our history: Fire, Writing, Numbers, Books, Computers, Social Networks, Videos... Do you think humans are ready to absorb so many changes? Specially now that everything around us is changing so fast due to technology.
I'm very interested in this idea. What do you think?