Digital Natives?

“Digital natives” “the Net Generation”… these are terms I hear a lot. I’m on Twitter and Facebook. I blog. I text. I create content and upload it on a regular basis. I’m not online constantly, but I do feel a need to stay connected, and I get excited about the possibilities for sharing and collaborating that exist because of web 2.0. I keep reading that this is what my students do too. It’s what they want from teachers. So when I was planning for this year, I thought about how I could make my teaching more representative of the world they experience outside the classroom. I thought about authentic writing tasks. I thought about anywhere anytime learning and created blogs and edmodo classes. I even started to think about how to use cell phones in the classroom. My new principal was so excited by this that she scheduled 2 of my senior academic English classes in a computer lab! I was so psyched! I even made a funky intro movie for my classes.

And then, at the end of my first class on the first day, it happened. A polite and friendly student said to me, “Um, it’s kinda weird being in a computer lab for English.”

My heart started to race a bit as it does when I get anxious.

“Weird good? Or weird bad?” I asked hopefully.

She smiled, not wishing to offend. “Kind of weird bad. Like, it’s English class. I don’t really think there’s a need for technology.”

My heart sunk. Literally. I found it in my left shoe at lunch.

Now I know, I know. It was just one student. I know some of them were as psyched as I was. But I got the impression from a number of them that this idea of a 21st century English class was just as threatening for them as it must be for some teachers. I really didn’t expect that.

It made me wonder. Where is this coming from? My current theory is that most students probably are digital natives. I’m not sure they’re as savvy as we’d like them to be, but most of them are comfortable using technology (that’s what they told me on the survey anyway). But I think that some of them have gotten the message from parents and teachers that technology is bad. It’s a distraction. It’s a toy. It’s something you ban. It doesn’t have a place in a serious academic classroom (maybe?). And these students are the “good” students–academic, disciplined, polite, respectful. They really listen to the messages they get from adults. And they’ve gotten the message that this is bad.

I’ve had to change my mindset about technology in the English classroom. Instead of it being the expectation, it is an option. It is another way for me to differentiate my instruction. They don’t have to post comments on the blog (but I wish they would). They don’t have to submit assignments on edmodo (but it’s usually more convenient that way). I’ve told them I never want to get an angry phone call from a parent saying, “You told my son he HAD to submit his assignments online.” It’s an option.

It’s so strange for me because, yes I’m interested in technology, but I’m doing this because I thought it would be good for the students. I thought they would prefer to learn this way. I thought I was making life easier for them–not harder.

Sigh. It’s still early. And I think some of them are coming around. The girl who spoke to me on the first day made a wordle and shared it with her classmates via edmodo. That’s kind of weird good.

11 thoughts on “Digital Natives?

  1. You really nailed that one Danika. Right up against the status quo of the accepted mode of teaching. You have the trust of many of the staff and students, but for others it’s like you changed the rules halfway through their favourite game. And books! You traitor, you switched sides too. Wait until the marks cycle for more active resistance, but believe me, it’s a long game and like you said it’s still early and as students come around that’s what counts.

  2. Keep your head up, Danika! I think that you’re absolutely right that students and parents alike don’t see the potential and it just takes a few brave pioneers to show them the way. I think they’ll come around and eventually realize how innovative you are and maybe not this year, but sometime in the future, will appreciate your efforts to include technology in the classroom :)

  3. Wow. Great post, Danika. I can empathize deeply with you. I think you and I were talking about this just the other day at rehearsal. I have had similar ‘underwhelming’ experiences with students, but also with other teachers and with admin, who seem to place web 2.0 in the “passing fancy” column (“another crazy fad, so let’s just wait until it goes, because these things always go, and while we wait, let’s just do things the same old way.”) And to the naysayers, they should realize students ARE immersed in digital culture in their personal lives, so they are more digitally experienced but, to be fair, they are not necessarily ‘digitally smart’ nor are they ‘digitally moral’. Dang. Another thing we have to teach them. But the worst thing we can do for all involved is ignore what incredible advances are being made in the world. Gosh, if U2 is FULLY embracing web 2.0 in their dang concerts and they are using it to affect change in the world (in concert with Amnesty International and other charities), then we in education have to at least be aware of what is going on.

    Don’t stop what you are doing, yo. When I am using web 2.0 in the class these days, I am aware of these things because of your efforts as a web 2.0 vanguard.

    Sorry for the rant. In the words of the famous American poet, Rick Astley, “I just wanna tell you how Im feeling
    Gotta make you understand.” Peace.

  4. p.s. I’m not sure if this works as an analogy but, imagine a person (boy or girl) grows up in a family with a parent famous for one aspect of hockey, maybe slap shot, and for their entire upbringing they are immersed in ‘slap shot’ culture and they are exposed to slap shot strategy, lingo, ideas, names, and places. Perhaps they participate in slap shot competitions on the backyard pond and, because of these pick-up games, this young person emerges with a highly developed slap shot. But they are unfamiliar with the wider perspective of hockey skills, culture, strategy and morality. Despite having one highly developed skill and despite growing up amongst one area of hockey culture, the youngster needs to be explicitly taught the other areas of their chosen sport.

    So, too, with web 2.0-sters: they may be amazing texters or gamers or facebook’ers but they are often colossally unaware of the rest of web 2.0 culture, safety, morality and overall ‘intelligence’.

    Does that analogy work?

  5. Pingback: F09 Week Five: CI 335 « Kelly M. Spicer

  6. Pingback: Back to the Future | Think Education

  7. Pingback: Tweets that mention Digital Natives? | Barker Blog -- Topsy.com