What do you make of the (divergent) positions of Boyd and Prensky?
Where do you stand on the “digital native” terminology?
Marc Prensky mission has emerged from his philosophies of "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants".
Prensky argues that, “Today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” (Boyd, 2014, pp179)
I agree with some aspects of Prensky's thinking. Below is a table that delineates skills that promote effective thinking, action and relationships.
In a short video titled: "Unleashing the Power of 21st- Century Kids," Marc Prensky shares his ideas that, "An academic education is no longer enough for these kids. They need to accomplish in the world. That's something that they want to do and what they are doing. " He continues to share that this is "the new paradigm that is emerging in the world". There are aspects of this that I also agree with. I agree that students learning should be rooted in real-world opportunities to engage in their learning through a variety of modalities.
Conversely I also agree with Danah Boyd in the one size does not fit all mentality. I often reflect on the teaching that I observe of others and struggle to believe that age equates wisdom or tenure equates with stronger teaching. I agree with Danah Boyd that young people (digital natives) do not necessarily know how to consume, navigate or siphon through media. She stated that, "Being exposed to information or imagery through the internet and engaging with social media do not make someone a savvy interpreter of the meaning behind these artifacts...perspective. Neither teens nor adults are monolithic, and there is no magical relation between skills and age." (Boyd, 2014, p.177)
And likewise older people (digital immigrants) are not necessarily inept in their abilities to utilize technology. She states that, "It behooves all of us to move past assumptions about today’s youth. Both adults and youth need to develop media literacy and technological skills to be active participants in our information society. Learning is a lifelong process." (Boyd, 2014, p.198)
Boyd also mentioned the notion about how students often have different opportunities to engage in technology consumption and learning depending on their privilege. (Boyd, 2014, p.180) In the community that I teach, students have more limited access to technological tools at home. As such we are often teaching our students how to navigate their Chromebooks versus the appropriate ways to consume media.
My overall stance, is more aligned with Danah Boyd on the basis that Marc Prensky is leaning to heavily on assumptions of age, and is neglecting to recognize the variants in expertise and access.
D. Boyd. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DZxLwG7Lw1-w9OvjpbyUSspSofpp6699/view
Hi Katy! You brought up some really great points in your reflection. I liked looking through the image and it got me thinking about how media literacy fits into effective thinking, action, and relationships and how many of those skills could be taught using digital platforms. I also can relate to how you feel that most time spent using technology is spent teaching students how to use the devices or how to use them appropriately for school versus teaching them how to consume the information. I'm not sure how to find that balance yet.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with how you mentioned that teaching should be based on real world opportunities. I think the young generation would appreciate learning to something they can connect back to the real world. Often times when I am teaching chemistry they ask "how is this going to be useful for me?"
ReplyDeleteHi Katy, I think the point that you made about students learning through real-world opportunities is so important. A lot of their world does involve technology but does not necessarily mean they are proficient with the different technology in their world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!