Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

In this article by Prensky called "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" the author aims at explaining how the currently students are learning quite differently than their elders were. The generation of students that teachers struggle with teaching are those who are used to using parallel though process, who are used to instant gratification and constant rewards, claims Prensky.

In many ways, I understand how this may be true. In an era where staying in contact, and where its not what you know-- but who you know that matters, where updates are constantly happening, and images are constantly being fed to the general public it's important to stay connected. Parents are worried about their childrens safety, so they give them cellular phones. It only starts there, it expands to the child wanting text messages, and maybe even the internet on their phone. 3G networks enable a person to send pictures, video, instant messages at the speed of light. I know because I'm on the 3G network & happen to be writing this blog from my phone.

How is it possible to teach a student who has all of these resources yet at the end of the day still seem to be bored ? For starters, there is such a thing called a "smartboard", where teachers can browse the internet right in front of students, thus integrating tools from the internet into everyday learning. There is also the thought of using laptops in classrooms-- I'm not sure if that has even been implemented in grades K-12, but in some college classrooms it's occurred.

Point is, I think if teachers really wanted a way to reach students, they'd find a creative way of doing so, which captures a students attention just as fast as the internet does.

Prensky speaks of some thoughts which Christensen also spoke of. Christensen states that the teenager is taught by the latest fashions, and sex roles by TV, movies, magazines, and comic stripes. Prensky adds that the teenager is taught by all of those things which have been complied on the internet for quick and easy access. Think about it, when viewing a web page a person not only see's text that they probably searched for, but tons of other images that have been hyper-sexualized to sell a product.

Teenagers and tweens in this era are educated on topics such as sex and drugs at an earlier age due to instant access without parental control. Text messaging also take things to new heights in the sense that a teenager can harass other students via text messaging, or instant messaging.

The teenager in this era are vastly different that their elders, their thought process is different, but behaviors still the same in some ways.