Digital Natives Digital Learners?

In 2001, Prensky 1 first postulated the concept of the ‘digital native’ – the generation who have grown up with technology to the extent that it is embedded into their lives and even proposed that their brains were different.  He argued that teaching and learning needed to change to meet the new expectations, needs and demands of this generation. Although interesting the proposal was not supported by an evidential base.

Kennedy et al 2 research into university study and the ‘digital native’ generation found that ‘assume that being a member of the ‘Net Generation’ is synonymous with knowing how to employ technology based tools strategically to optimise learning experiences.’

Kennedy’s research suggests that today’s generation of learners do have expectations of technology which include: ‘general expectations about access, convenience and connectedness’ (p118) and concluded that some technologies were embedded in the day-to-day experience of this group of learners including mobile phone usage, blogs, sharing of digital artefacts and social networking. The research also identified that the current generation are interested in using these technologies for learning – but did not investigate how they thought technology might benefit their learning. As Kennedy et al points out ‘it is difficult to expect students to have the expertise to judge how to best use emerging technologies for educational purposes.’ The role of the teacher is to identify the most appropriate pedagogy – this has not changed. Prensky argued that as ‘digital immigrants’ teachers were not easily able to do this. However, teachers by nature need to adapt teaching methods, learn new skills and new knowledge on an ongoing basis – this is part of excellent teaching. The teacher who cannot learn at a personal level is a poor teacher.

Kennedy also notes that ‘the transfer from a social or entertainment technology (a living technology) to a learning technology is neither automatic nor guaranteed.’ I would agree here – do learners really want their teacher popping up on Facebook?

  1. Prensky, M. (2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’, On the Horizon, 9(5), (online) Available from: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf (Accessed 30 January 2011).
  2. Kennedy, G. E., Judd, T. S., Churchward, A., Gray, K. and Krause, K. (2008) ‘First year students’ experiences with technology: Are they really digital natives?’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(1), pp. 108-122, (online) Available from: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/kennedy.pdf (Accessed 12 February 2011).

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