I am a Millennial, but am I a digital native? This week has prompted me to think about how I define myself and how I interact with Web 2.0 and social media. So a lot of my thought process has included a trip down memory lane to assess how quickly things have changed in my lifetime.
Let's start with the term Millenial. According to Pew Research, a Millenial is born between 1981 and 1996, which would make us all ages 24-39 this year. The article discusses the things that define Millennials- 9/11, the economic recession, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and technology. In another Pew Research article they break down the use of technology spanning across the generations. 93% of Millennials own a smartphone and 86% use social media. Okay, yes, all of that describes me.
Now, the term digital native is a bit more complex. In our reading this week, the Prensky article would define most Millennials as digital natives, having grown up during the expansion of the internet, Web 2.0, smartphones, and social media. Prensky suggests that this familiarity with technology influences the way digital natives approach and engage as far as education is concerned. He states, “ Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work. (Does any of this sound familiar?)” (Prensky, p. 2). None of that describes me, but putting myself in my classroom I can absolutely relate with the educators that Presnky describes as digital immigrants, pondering why my students just don’t learn the way they used to.
There are several instances that I shared on our course discussion board this week where I have noticed a disconnect between myself and my students in how we use and approach technology.
What I had not done was try to put myself in their shoes and understand technology from their point of view. They have grown up with a very different experience than my own, even though it doesn't feel that long ago to me. It was 2009 when I helped a friend move to Atlanta and we drove up there only to get lost trying to find the rental house. I was so mad that he didn’t print out the directions, or the wrong directions, maybe, I don’t quite remember exactly what the problem was. But, I do remember the solution was to use my brand new smartphone and pay some ridiculously high per minute charge to use the internet to look up directions and navigate Atlanta traffic on the tiniest screen. Fast forward to today and I would never even consider printing out Mapquest directions (does that website even exist any longer?) and my current students would never even understand that reference.
The transition to teaching online and the first two weeks of this class have been thought-provoking and eye-opening, to say the least. I need to do a better job of approaching technology from my students' point of view, as terrifying as that may sound.
I will leave you with the story of my first week teaching online and how out of touch I was with my students' technology use. We were asked to have lessons ready to go and I was scrambling with how to motivate and engage my AP Psychology students with seven weeks of online review for their AP Exam in the middle of a pandemic. I was familiar with Flipgrid and just told the kids “make a 5 minute or less video with visual aids reviewing any topic from Chapter 1”- the vaguest directions possible. I had no idea what to expect and really did not think this assignment would work, but it would buy me some time to think of better ideas. The first week as the videos began getting posted to our thread on Flipgrid I was blown away by my student's creativity and depth of review. I had students create Tik Tok videos, PowerPoint presentations with voice-overs, an elaborate ruse as a talk show host with animated gifs that pop on the screen, and an entire website. Now there were a few students who had technical difficulties and I had to play IT support from a distance, but luckily as a Millenial I had the toolbox to navigate with them and provide them with the resources to be successful. I would imagine this would be a lot more difficult for someone of a different generation, or a digital immigrant, but even as someone who is familiar with the technology my students did things that I never expected, that I had never even considered, honestly. They approached this traditional, boring video review with the perspective of Gen Z and digital natives- a very different lens than mine. We kept the assignment and reviewed a different chapter each week up until the exam, and those videos kept me laughing and crying through the pandemic.
Let's start with the term Millenial. According to Pew Research, a Millenial is born between 1981 and 1996, which would make us all ages 24-39 this year. The article discusses the things that define Millennials- 9/11, the economic recession, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and technology. In another Pew Research article they break down the use of technology spanning across the generations. 93% of Millennials own a smartphone and 86% use social media. Okay, yes, all of that describes me.
Now, the term digital native is a bit more complex. In our reading this week, the Prensky article would define most Millennials as digital natives, having grown up during the expansion of the internet, Web 2.0, smartphones, and social media. Prensky suggests that this familiarity with technology influences the way digital natives approach and engage as far as education is concerned. He states, “ Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work. (Does any of this sound familiar?)” (Prensky, p. 2). None of that describes me, but putting myself in my classroom I can absolutely relate with the educators that Presnky describes as digital immigrants, pondering why my students just don’t learn the way they used to.
There are several instances that I shared on our course discussion board this week where I have noticed a disconnect between myself and my students in how we use and approach technology.
What I had not done was try to put myself in their shoes and understand technology from their point of view. They have grown up with a very different experience than my own, even though it doesn't feel that long ago to me. It was 2009 when I helped a friend move to Atlanta and we drove up there only to get lost trying to find the rental house. I was so mad that he didn’t print out the directions, or the wrong directions, maybe, I don’t quite remember exactly what the problem was. But, I do remember the solution was to use my brand new smartphone and pay some ridiculously high per minute charge to use the internet to look up directions and navigate Atlanta traffic on the tiniest screen. Fast forward to today and I would never even consider printing out Mapquest directions (does that website even exist any longer?) and my current students would never even understand that reference.
The transition to teaching online and the first two weeks of this class have been thought-provoking and eye-opening, to say the least. I need to do a better job of approaching technology from my students' point of view, as terrifying as that may sound.
I will leave you with the story of my first week teaching online and how out of touch I was with my students' technology use. We were asked to have lessons ready to go and I was scrambling with how to motivate and engage my AP Psychology students with seven weeks of online review for their AP Exam in the middle of a pandemic. I was familiar with Flipgrid and just told the kids “make a 5 minute or less video with visual aids reviewing any topic from Chapter 1”- the vaguest directions possible. I had no idea what to expect and really did not think this assignment would work, but it would buy me some time to think of better ideas. The first week as the videos began getting posted to our thread on Flipgrid I was blown away by my student's creativity and depth of review. I had students create Tik Tok videos, PowerPoint presentations with voice-overs, an elaborate ruse as a talk show host with animated gifs that pop on the screen, and an entire website. Now there were a few students who had technical difficulties and I had to play IT support from a distance, but luckily as a Millenial I had the toolbox to navigate with them and provide them with the resources to be successful. I would imagine this would be a lot more difficult for someone of a different generation, or a digital immigrant, but even as someone who is familiar with the technology my students did things that I never expected, that I had never even considered, honestly. They approached this traditional, boring video review with the perspective of Gen Z and digital natives- a very different lens than mine. We kept the assignment and reviewed a different chapter each week up until the exam, and those videos kept me laughing and crying through the pandemic.
Wow. And I am at the tail end of the BabyBoomers so I have had an even more different experience than you. I spent a significant portion of the Millennial period at sea with snail mail only. But I find myself sharing some of the characteristics that are used to tag these digital natives. Maybe those characteristics are not as unique to them as one would think.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, professionally I cannot rely on my learners each having their own smart device because our management, of my generation or slightly later, does not comprehend that they do all have one already. So we are stuck in the brick and motor, face-to-face instructional concept. I believe we are selling these young people short and not maximizing the learning potential by hybrid delivery, yet 'I am but a pawn.'
This made me think about how, as a trainer, I do tend to want my "students" to learn as they used to and not with all the new-fangled technology. The interesting part is my "students" are all older Gen Xers and Boomers. I rarely work with people younger than me, and I am a solid Xer. Maybe it is because the people I train tend to go work with youths who are more tech aware or want to be viewed as someone up-to-date with all the tech and not like the people on the Consumer Cellular commercials. Either way, taking that step to become familiar and use the technology and not be afraid of it or not learn it is an excellent tip for anyone struggling with all the latest and greatest. I know my kids laugh (23, 21, 19) when I have to go to them to ask how to Tweet, and Instagram is a what? But it is bringing us together and starting with a universal language that we can move forward from. Who knows what is around the corner for Web 2.0 tools. I know that I will be looking at my kids to help me through the learning process.
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