I consider myself a Digital Founder. This does not mean that I believe I am awesome with technology. What I mean by this is I have grown up alongside technology. When I was a child the internet was just getting started. As I got older so did the internet and as it got better I got better at using it. I believe this a great example of convergent evolution, and as such I think it makes it not possible for me to be considered a native or an immigrant.
My experiences in high school were with limited use of technology. I had the internet at home, played video games and watched television pretty much daily. In the last article the author states, “Students certainly don’t have short attention spans for their games, movies, music, or Internet surfing. More and more they just don’t tolerate the old ways-and they are enraged we are not better by them.” I completely disagree with this. I was never enraged that my teachers didn’t turn school into a video game for me. In fact in some ways I appreciated the atmosphere of being “powered down.” I think the rage that students feel these days is a result of their entitlement feelings. They believe a teacher’s job is to entertain and baby sit them. I think a large part of this is poor parenting.
With all that being said, I do understand that the demand that students have for classes to be their way is not going to change anytime soon. When I begin teaching I will do my best to make the subject entertaining and utilize multiple teaching methods and tools including technology. I will also not feel guilty for the times I lecture to my students and have them takes notes on an ultra archaic paper with a pen.
There were times in college where technology like the Smart Board improved the learning environment and there were also times where the technology hindered the learning experience. Looking back on my college experiences I can draw one conclusion regarding my education and power point. In classes where the professor lectured from a very complete power point, one in which no note taking was necessary because I could print the power point later, I retained very little long term information. On the other hand, classes with a power point outline were very productive. My handwritten notes in these classes were better organized that in classes based on pure lecture. I also remember a great deal of information from these classes. The author of the first group says his “preference for teaching Digital Natives is to invent computer games to do the job, even for the most serious content.” I believe this is a great idea for things people will continue to use on a very regular basis like learning how to drive. But for things like chemistry I don’t believe the quick route is going to engrain the information into the long term memory unless it is used over and over again. The idea of repetition seems like it would be just as frustrating to a digital native as being taught without technology. I don’t know anyone who plays the same video game level over and over again.
Reading these articles brought to light the issue of technology driven students that I hadn’t given much thought to before. After gaining this knowledge I don’t think it really changed my opinion; however it did show me that I will have to keep my class entertaining in order to be a successful teacher.
I think that your thoughts on using technology in your classroom is interesting. While you did not mind the teachers "powering down" the classroom you do notice that you would most likely need to be using the technology in your own rooms. I would be curious if your students would be willing to accept a "powered down" classroom. They have so much technology and information available to them that they might not want or be able to learn without it. That is both sad and disappointing but I think it might be hard to avoid in our modern era. Great job and really good points.
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