Teaching to Digital Natives
I heard a really good comment today.
"We (teachers) are digital immigrants teaching to digital natives, and the natives are getting restless!"
This brings to mind the differences between our generation(s) and the students in school and the young people entering the workforce. What are we doing to bridge the differences in learning styles? I am mainly a tactile learner with audio and visual learning styles to assist, but today's youth have a much higher tactile with AV styles incorporated. The need to respond to these students with all three at the same time, at a quicker pace is mind boggling. How, as a teacher, can this be accomplished without the right tools and support?
Students today have been raised on iPods, cell phones, text messaging, IM, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, web browsing, geotagging, Google, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendos. All of this and more brings about the instant gratification, always on, always connected mindset in our students.
They have a President that embraces the Blackberry, IM, Twitter, and other social networks. What do they see on TV? Follow my "enter social network site here". Why read the newspaper when they can Google the news?
The standards must be taught, but the old delivery methods are not appropriate anymore! New standards must be developed to encompass the technology has brought our global community together! Action is desperately needed in our education community, and sadly it seems we are slow to take the necessary steps.
"We (teachers) are digital immigrants teaching to digital natives, and the natives are getting restless!"
This brings to mind the differences between our generation(s) and the students in school and the young people entering the workforce. What are we doing to bridge the differences in learning styles? I am mainly a tactile learner with audio and visual learning styles to assist, but today's youth have a much higher tactile with AV styles incorporated. The need to respond to these students with all three at the same time, at a quicker pace is mind boggling. How, as a teacher, can this be accomplished without the right tools and support?
Students today have been raised on iPods, cell phones, text messaging, IM, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, web browsing, geotagging, Google, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendos. All of this and more brings about the instant gratification, always on, always connected mindset in our students.
They have a President that embraces the Blackberry, IM, Twitter, and other social networks. What do they see on TV? Follow my "enter social network site here". Why read the newspaper when they can Google the news?
The standards must be taught, but the old delivery methods are not appropriate anymore! New standards must be developed to encompass the technology has brought our global community together! Action is desperately needed in our education community, and sadly it seems we are slow to take the necessary steps.
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