Sunday, January 25, 2009

Don't Throw the Baby Out With The Bath Water: Exploring What Digital Natives Need From Teachers

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”

Really?

At first I was eager to jump on Marc Prensky’s bandwagon with a rowdy “yee-haw!” Out with the old and in with the new! But then I spent the past week watching my students through the lens of that assumption. Time and time again I was overcome with feelings of nostalgia. I kept catching myself thinking, “gee, I remember when I had to go through that, or thinking that a student was the spitting image of a younger (and thinner) me”. So, I decided to look a bit deeper into Prensky’s argument that students have radically changed. I hit the net and found information on the different generations. As I read the different descriptions of the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y and finally Generation V (or as Prensky calls them, Digital Natives). I found that yes, there were differences based on what the world was going through during those two decades, but I found that there were more commonalities that could be used in an educational context. Here is what I found:

Presnsky states that Digital Natives are accustomed to:

- Receiving information fast

- Parallel process

- Multi task

- Used to being in a network

- Want frequent rewards

- Instant gratification

- Crave interactivity

Billings and Kowalski (2004) state that:

Baby boomers

- Want to have a say in own learning

- Want a caring environment

- Respond to positive feedback, desire to do well

- Connect learning to outcomes

- Want to feel connected to others in the learning environment

Generation X

- Manage independently and participate in discussions

- Adapt well to change

- Tolerant of alternative lifestyles

- Try to attain several goals all at once

- Are comfortable with technology

- Self-directed learners; work in teams

- Want clear information of practical value

- Use fun and humor; games and activities are appropriate

Generation Y (Digital Natives)

- Grew up experiencing digital media and internet access

- Use mobile devices to access and process information

- Technology is expected

- Prefer to work in groups and teams

- “always on” connectivity blurs work time and learning

- Want “augmented reality” – real work environments similar to the work setting such as simulations and

virtual reality.

- Active learners; seek innovations; want immediate response to learning needs and questions

- Have difficulty focusing on one thing; prefer to multitask

- Have difficulty honing skills of critical analysis necessary to read between the lines due to volume of

available information.

- Use “hyper-learning” models as opposed to linear acquisition of information; want to construct information on their own; are independent.

- Enjoy being mentored by older generations

Now, let’s pull the commonalities out from these lists and see how all three generations are similar.

All three generations:

- Want to construct information on their own; are independent.

- Are active learners; seek innovations; want immediate response to learning needs and questions

- Prefer to work in groups and teams

- Try to attain several goals all at once

- Manage independently and participate in discussions

- Want to have a say in own learning

- Want a caring environment

So, between all three generations, we have quite a few similarities. Within these similarities lies the true pedagogy of teaching. Do we need to completely reinvent the way we teach students? Not if you agree that we still have many similarities connecting the generations. I prefer to think of the new technology as a new and innovative vehicle in which to present learning opportunities. Merritt Colaizzi is of the same mind when he stated, “These vehicles enable students to collaborate, make connections to ideas in new ways and have conversations they haven't been able to have in the past”.

Digital natives or generation “V” are very comfortable with these new technologies and are motivated by the use of these technologies. Teachers can still use tried and true teaching strategies that have worked in the past with these “digital natives” because universal truths about students learn still exist. However, teachers can't ignore the fact that teaching, in and of itself is an innovative and creative process. Students may still have many similar learning preferences and attributes but the resources that we use to teach them need to keep up with what the students are used to dealing with in their everyday lives. Check out this video that illustrates the need for these resources in the classroom:

Marc Prensky says, “My own preference for teaching Digital Natives is to invent computer games to do the job, even for the most serious content.”---While I am reading this I am thinking to myself, what kid doesn’t prefer playing games to listening to a lecture. How is this new and innovative? Yes, the technology that is being used today is new but the pedagogy behind it is the same that it has been for years………………. Are these new methodologies or just new resources being used to engage the learner?

Over 2500 years ago Confucious knew how students learned best. I cannot believe that in ten years time student’s have changed so dramatically that this quote is no longer applicable:

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. “

Am I ignoring the differences? Certainly not, I feel that it is those differences that we each bring that will enrich our learning experience (notice the learning experiences are OURS not just our students!).

Implications for the classroom

Despite having doubts about some of Prensky’s ideas about the need for new methodologies, no teacher can ignore the fact that technology is changing at a rapid pace and we are, indeed, preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist (Frisk). We also can’t ignore that there are differences between our generation and this new “Virtual Generation”. These students have changing needs that reflect the changing landscape of technology, business, commerce, and global relationships and, as teachers, we need to constantly reflect upon if our resources and strategies are adequate to prepare our students to be contributing members of society. That means that I will constantly be assessing what my students need to be learning and how best to engage them. Not exactly ground-breaking, I know but if Confucious’s words can still hold such truth, I can stick by my teaching philosophy written ten years ago!!

Anyway, I would like to leave you with one of my favourite Confucious quotes to end this post:

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Dispelling Misconceptions About Technology and the School Library

Technology will be the death of the Library. You have got to be KIDDING! Opps, did that come across as too strong? Since becoming The Passionate Librarian, just a mere year and a half ago I have heard a variety of opinions about school libraries and librarians from fellow librarians, school colleagues, and my friends and family. They have ranged from playful comments about my horned rimmed glasses (yes, I have a pair!) to wistful sighs of colleagues wishing that they could just "hole up in the quiet library and read all day". But, the comment that made me stop in my tracks and honestly (get a little feisty) was the question that was posed to me, "With the increase in student's access to the internet and Google, aren't you worried about job security? I mean, do students really need libraries and librarian anymore?". So, when Joyce Valenza's Manifesto for the 21st Century Librarian was brought to my attention, I embraced it with open arms and spread the word: Technology INCREASES the need for school libraries and teacher-librarians!!! Keep reading and I will tell you why!

First of all, students are NOT the same as students ten years ago. Learner's needs change as the educational landscape changes. In the latest edition of School Libraries Worldwide, Marlene Asselin and Ray Doiron explore how teachers need to "extend teaching to meet the literacy and learning needs of the Net Generation". I quickly saw the connection between Asselin and Doiron's paper and Valenza's Manifesto and I think that using both of these articles, I can summarize why TLs will be the perfect agents of change to address the changing learning needs and styles of this new generation of learners.

A Few Characteristics of todays learners and how TL's fit in..........

* Interactive participants- Students want to be active participants in their learning. They not only want to hear what everyone else has to say, they want to be involved in the conversation as well.
As the TL, you can be the "go-to" person for Wiki creation and instruction.

* Early adopters- "I'll figure it out myself". Students want to try the newest things NOW! "They don't want to know how it works, but how it can work for them." (Asselin, Doiron)

Use your library's "second door" (library webpage) to introduce new and worthwhile resources and tools.

* They are "Multi-tasking, multi-modal, multi-resourcing" students- They do it all, at the same time! They can research, IM, and rock out to Katie Perry all at the same time!

"Think outside the box about the concept of “collection.” That collection might include: ebooks, audiobooks, open source software, streaming media, flash sticks, digital video cameras, and much more! You lend this stuff." (Valenza)


* They share and share alike- Intellectual ownership is less of an issue. These students are working to collaboratively come up with ideas and solutions by seamlessly adding their ideas to others.

Being there to guide and inform students of information rights and responsibilities. Check out Flickr- Creative Commons!!!

* They are connected with a capital "C"- They are in constant communication with their peers, through text messages, IM, Twitter, and email.

Be just as connected as they are!! Can they find you on Twitter, Furl, or Flickr?

And, for those of you who are more visual learners, here is a little animation I created.

GoAnimate.com
Like it? It's free and fun! Create your own at GoAnimate.com

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Libraries Without Walls

Since beginning my exploration of Web 2.0 tools as it relates to education and school libraries, I have realized that there are MANY, MANY free online resources out there that I have yet to tap. Remembering a conversation that I had with my District Librarian a few months ago, I remembered that the Fraser Valley Regional Library has many online resources. I just happened to have a few minutes to spare today so I logged on with my library card and began my exploration. The resource that I want to draw your attention to today is the EBooks and Audio books that are FREE to download and borrow for periods of 14 and 21 days from BC Libraries Without Walls. Some titles are even available to burn onto CDs (although 1 book takes up 7 cds!). So, if you are a resident of BC and have a library card, check out this site and enjoy! This site is not only for Fraser Valley Regional Library members, it is for libraries across BC.
Warning: There are two programs that you will have to download to be able to access this particular resource, so make sure you have at least an hour to play around with it.

Now, before you incorporate this into your lesson plans, just remember the following things:
* To access this resource, you must have a BC library card.
* These books are similar to hard copies, FVRL only has licenses for a few copies of each so it would not be possible for EVERY student in your class to have a personal copy.
* These works are protected by copyright. Please familiarize yourself with your rights and how you are allowed to use these works.

PS. I downloaded Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Anne of Green Gables. It took about 12 minutes on high speed cable and was well worth the wait!!