Teaching the Digital Generation

History has shown us how some changes can’t be undone. With the rapid development of technology, swift changes are not unfamiliar to us. Sometimes the changes are too quick for us to grasp. With these changes, teaching the digital generation should be easy, right?

Children born since the late 80’s have been bombarded with technology and its rapid changes. How have they coped with it? In my opinion, I think they have coped very well with it.

 Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives. (Prensky, 2001)

Surprising? I don’t think so. You should start thinking of the D-Gen (digital generation) as inhabitants of the digital culture. They speak digitally using their smartphones. They play digitally using their video gaming systems. They sleep digitally dreaming of new technology. They learn digitally researching information on the Internet.

This is not to say that the D-Gen are the only ones using digital devices. Most of us have turned to the ‘electronic’ side with minimal fuss. I certainly have. It’s easier to grow up digitally; a little harder to adapt to it. Some digital adapters do so quickly while others take a slower route. But, in the end, we either have a loving relationship or a love/hate relationship with our digital devices.

Adapting digitally can have serious complications when trying to teach the D-Gen. There’s a constant struggle for those slow digital adapters and how the D-Gen is taught is affected. Teaching outdated teaching methods will not hold the interests of the D-Gen for too long. Teachers need to find ways to effectively integrate and/or adopt new teaching methods to keep their students interested.

*Some of you may feel that this is easier said than done. But there are a multitude of case studies that support integration of learning technologies. Some of which are listed at the end of this blog.*

Teaching the D-Gen is nothing short of acquiring spectacular experiences. Children born into our technologically rich environment learn very quickly and expect nothing less when they go to school to learn. Their brains are active when they use their technologies and educators need to find creative ways to keep those brain cells moving.

A note of some significance

If you take those educators who have embraced new technologies and have adapted it into their teaching methods and mesh them into a grid of learners ranging in age from K-College a dynamic, technology rich educational platform will be at the forefront of teaching methodologies.

List of case studies that support integration of learning technologies

(not exhaustive)

1.       A Handbook of Best Practices in the Integration of Learning Technologies into Higher Education Illustrated with case studies from innovative institutions in Canada and around the world. This information is provided by Leah P. Macfadyen, PhD. https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/1327/LTBestPracticesHandbook.pdf?sequence=1

2.       Digital Learning Environments: Tools and technologies for effective classrooms list numerous case studies. This information is provided by DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/case_studies

3.       Moodle Case Studies - Here you will find a number of video and print case studies that seek to highlight how academics from across the University have already began using Moodle. Provided by City University London. http://www.city.ac.uk/ldc/learning-technologies/moodle/Moodle%20Case%20Studies.html

4.       Higher Education Case Study about Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Provided by Turning Technologies.  http://www.turningtechnologies.com/studentresponsesystems/researchcasestudies/casestudies/rochesterinstituteoftechnology/

5.       The potential for adaptable accessible learning objects: A case study in accessible vodcasting. This information is provided by Stavroula Gkatzidou and Elaine Pearson. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet25/gkatzidou.pdf

6.       The student impact study of the alliance + project: Three case studies in K-12 technology integration. Information provided by Mario Yepes-Baraya. http://www.league.org/league/projects/files/alliance_impact_study.pdf

7.       Using new technologies for learning: a case study of a whole-school approach. Article from: Journal of Research on Technology in Education. http://business.highbeam.com/619/article-1G1-103415992/using-new-technologies-learning-case-study-wholeschool

8.       Teaching in a wireless learning environment: A case study. Information provided by Tzu Chien Liu. http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_1/11.pdf

Resource

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved February 1, 2011 from On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.