REFLECTION!!!!!!

I would have to say that I feel as though I am a digital immigrant although I grew up in an age where one would expect me to be a digital native. I prefer to write ideas out by hand, I prefer to read a book, and I prefer to sit down and talk to people face to face rather than online. In Prensky’s first article he gives the following statistics, “ Todays 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)” (Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants). I feel as though I grew up in a different world. In High School I had rarely ever played video games, other than in the summer, and normally I would spend my down time reading a good book. I spent most of my time being actively involved in theatre or hanging out with friends, where does that factor in?
I believe that this actually interaction is something that may be lacking in schools. Prensky writes “As a result of their experiences Digital Natives crave interactivity—an immediate response to their each and every action. Traditional schooling provides very little of this compared to the rest of their world (one study showed that students in class get to ask a question every 10 hours) 26 So it generally isn’t that Digital Natives can’t pay attention, it’s that they choose not to” (Do they really Think differently?). Why not engage students by getting them up, getting them talking? Why not encourage them to ask questions in class? I do not believe that making everything a computer game is going to serve the students. I completely agree that students and people in general, have short attention spans, so I think the cure is getting students up and actively engaged in group activities, discussions and exercises.
Lecture style is something that our students will not learn best from. In class we have repeated the statistic over and over that we only retain 10% of what we learn from lecture. I think this is what Prensky meant when he stated “The fact is that even if you are the most engaging old-style teacher in the world, you are not going to capture most of our students’ attention the old way” (Engage Me, Or Enrage Me). Although this is true there are many best practices that can involve students other than just getting them on the computer playing games. Have them work together. Have them form questions. Have them create art.

In High School and College there was very little technology used, and that which was I found less than engaging. PowerPoint presentations were the worst, because that usually meant a lecture. The best form of technology was videos, if they were interesting and relevant and the class had the time to make connections to the video after viewing. And of course much of my research assignments were done online. I will give the internet credit for this, it saved me the task of searching through more books for knowledge, but did that really help me to learn more? I don’t think so.

The main ways I can see incorporating technology into my classes is by having students bring in movie clips, music and articles they find online that are relevant to our teachings. I also find that creating your own multimedia products can be very stimulating and engaging for students. I love that the internet has provided an avenue for students to find a wealth of information and images, but I do not think it should replace individuals thought development, reflection and connection. I will use it as a tool to stimulate real life interaction as opposed to replacing them.