Concerning Digital Natives

History of the phrase “digital native”  First used my Marc Prensky in “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” (2001) He has since updated this to “digital wisdom” as of 2012  John Parry Barlow said in 1996, “You are terrified of your own children, since they are natives in a world where you will always be immigrants.”

Prelection

What is Cura Personalis?  Help our students understand their inherent human dignity  Help our students reach their greatest human potential  Teach our students to share their experience and knowledge with others  To act in a way, ourselves, that reflects this growth  Do we do these things in regards to technology?  In regards to technology, do we have to write statements that begin with “Help our students avoid…” or “Teach our students not to…”?

Do we understand their experiences?  Our students were born between 1998 and 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture in 1998 went to Saving Private Ryan In 2002 it went to Chicago (The Two Towers was nominated)  They have been around technology their whole lives  They have only experienced a post 9/11 world, for all intents and purposes

What technology are they familiar with?  Modern students come in to the classroom fluent in: Entertainment Communication Social Media  Most have never been taught how to use technology for any other purpose

What are our hesitations?

What does this mean for us?  Where does the mission of being counter-cultural come into play?  What specific technology objectives should we write into our respective curricula?

What should the focus be?  Danah Boyd, author of “It’s Complicated” “the rhetoric of 'digital natives'" is dangerous because it distorts the realities of kids' virtual lives, the result being that they don't learn what they need to know about online living  Reuben Loewy, “Living Online Lab” Students have “a distorted view of the digital world. It is a view that reflects the fears of adults rather than the aspirations of youth.”

From a study by Shiang-Kwei Wang  “Students were not tech savvy in the classroom. Most were not very familiar with information and communication technology…designed to make information production and sharing easier. Their teachers…depended much more on using technology to solve daily problems, to improve productivity, and as learning aids.”

What do we need to do?  Students must be given the opportunity to use technology to: Solve problems Enhance Productivity Develop Creativity  Therefore teachers must be given training on how to do this

What are the basics?  Students are now used to having immediate access to all the information  Proper technology use Students are going to use whatever technology is available to them The teacher is responsible for demonstrating proper use and giving opportunity for proper use

Rockhurst High School  We are 1-to-1 with iPads  I put note outlines online every day  I fill in the notes on the board using Apple TV  I post a PDF of the completed notes every day  I post a video of the class every day  Once the students have access to a digital document, I never take it away

What do I use?  MyHomework (app and website)  Google Drive (app and website)  Explain Everything (iPad app and in the Microsoft Store for tablets) Explain Everything  Notability (iPad app, might be added to the Microsoft Store)  MatLab (Mathematical Programming Software)

What is the benefit?  Students always have something they should be doing with their iPad  Students have access to all the pertinent information for my class  MatLab will help familiarize them with a new language  I still struggled with showing them how to take advantage of all of these resources, though

What do we have to say?