Jed Coppock/4923182
EDMT902 - What is Learning?
10 April 2015
Tutorial no. 4
Critical literature Review – Digital Natives
"The arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decade of the 20th century has changed the way students think and process information” (Prensky 1).This notion is at the heart of what has become the ‘digital native debate’ – i.e. should education systems be changed in order to accommodate a new generation of technologically savvy learners? The term ‘digital native’ itself refers to those who were born or raised during the age of digital technology; this contrasts with Prensky’s concept of a ‘digital immigrant – i.e. someone who was born prior to the rise and spread of digital technologies (2). By …show more content…
Many educators fear that a lack of ICT usage in the classroom will result in ‘digital natives’ becoming increasingly disengaged with a system that doesn’t cater to their skills or learning styles. In his article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’, Marc Prensky illustrates how many students at present are feeling unengaged by traditional teaching methodology and content – one student stated, “every time I go to school I have to power down” (Prensky 3). Furthermore he stresses the need for digital immigrant educators to recognise the changing interests and aptitudes of students; as such, Prensky feels that all teachers should strive to develop a level of digital fluency so as to benefit their pupils. He goes on to suggest that a digital fluency amongst teacher’s would pave the way for a new structure of educational content – i.e. ‘legacy’ content and ‘future’ content (4). Legacy content addresses the fundamentals areas of traditional teaching such as reading, writing, arithmetic and so on. Future content on the other hand touches on content that digital natives might be more familiar with: software, hardware, robotics and nanotechnology to name just a few. Despite a reluctance from some, Prenksy encourages digital immigrant educators to embrace …show more content…
Van Eck feels that there will always be concern that the engaging aspect of the game will take centre stage rather than the accuracy and completeness of content (Van Eck 24). This can be seen when we look at some games already being utilised within the classroom – e.g. Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, Sim City 4. While these games provide a level of educational stimuli for children, the content is somewhat overshadowed by the engaging and interactive nature of the gameplay. The research of digital game-based learning, though good, “has focused on efficacy (the message that games can be effective) rather than on explanation (why and how they are effective) and prescription (how to actually implement DGBL)” (Van Eck
EDMT902 - What is Learning?
10 April 2015
Tutorial no. 4
Critical literature Review – Digital Natives
"The arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decade of the 20th century has changed the way students think and process information” (Prensky 1).This notion is at the heart of what has become the ‘digital native debate’ – i.e. should education systems be changed in order to accommodate a new generation of technologically savvy learners? The term ‘digital native’ itself refers to those who were born or raised during the age of digital technology; this contrasts with Prensky’s concept of a ‘digital immigrant – i.e. someone who was born prior to the rise and spread of digital technologies (2). By …show more content…
Many educators fear that a lack of ICT usage in the classroom will result in ‘digital natives’ becoming increasingly disengaged with a system that doesn’t cater to their skills or learning styles. In his article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’, Marc Prensky illustrates how many students at present are feeling unengaged by traditional teaching methodology and content – one student stated, “every time I go to school I have to power down” (Prensky 3). Furthermore he stresses the need for digital immigrant educators to recognise the changing interests and aptitudes of students; as such, Prensky feels that all teachers should strive to develop a level of digital fluency so as to benefit their pupils. He goes on to suggest that a digital fluency amongst teacher’s would pave the way for a new structure of educational content – i.e. ‘legacy’ content and ‘future’ content (4). Legacy content addresses the fundamentals areas of traditional teaching such as reading, writing, arithmetic and so on. Future content on the other hand touches on content that digital natives might be more familiar with: software, hardware, robotics and nanotechnology to name just a few. Despite a reluctance from some, Prenksy encourages digital immigrant educators to embrace …show more content…
Van Eck feels that there will always be concern that the engaging aspect of the game will take centre stage rather than the accuracy and completeness of content (Van Eck 24). This can be seen when we look at some games already being utilised within the classroom – e.g. Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, Sim City 4. While these games provide a level of educational stimuli for children, the content is somewhat overshadowed by the engaging and interactive nature of the gameplay. The research of digital game-based learning, though good, “has focused on efficacy (the message that games can be effective) rather than on explanation (why and how they are effective) and prescription (how to actually implement DGBL)” (Van Eck