6/29: Prensky and Boyd

    In yesterday's reading, Boyd explained Prensky's theory of the divide between digital natives and digital immigrants: a metaphor that paints a good picture of the common differences we see between people who grew up with the internet and those who didn't. I've definitely spent a fair amount of time helping my well-educated parents update their iPhone settings and reopen a tab they accidentally closed, so I understand what he's getting at. However, in thinking about digital natives, I was struck most by how little Boyd discusses the digital divide that exists among youths. She mentions it briefly, but it's the part of her essay I'm most interested in: "Talk of digital natives may make it harder for us to pay attention to the digital divide in terms of who has access to different technical platforms..." (192). Especially in a time of distance learning, it is unfair to our students to assume that they all have equitable access to modern technologies (or a working understanding of the internet).  

NCES Blog | The Digital Divide: Differences in Home Internet Access

    This year at DelSesto, we used an online curriculum. Students were expected to navigate resources on said curriculum, teach themselves content, and complete all of their work all without the need for a paper and pencil. One of the biggest problems with asking students to do all of their work online is the assumption that they know how. Our students, though they may be digital natives, do not automatically know how to complete the online tasks we ask of them. If we're asking students to sift through content, find pre-written scaffolds, and submit assignments, we first need to teach them how to do so successfully. While I agree that its necessary for even digital natives to engage critically with the internet (or curriculum), I think teachers (be they digital immigrants or not) fall into the trap of assuming that students will absorb whatever it is they see online without actually taking time to process it. This assumption removes the teacher's responsibility to teach these skills, which leaves the student to either learn for herself or fall behind (180-1). 

Comentarios

  1. Lesley30 de junio de 2020 a las 19:13

    I agree that this spring's adventures in online learning gave light to the truth of the digital inequalities (as well as other inequalities of time, education and resources.) I wonder if Boyd wrote recently about that???

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  2. Kerrenlynnb30 de junio de 2020 a las 19:17

    Elyse, the image you included in this post provoked me to remember the frustrations caused by interruptions and slow speeds in the days I has dial-up internet. The modem screeching when signing in, the AOL voice announcing "Goodbye" when another call came through, and clicking a link, then having enough time to go make a sandwich while it loaded. These frustrations must have a profound effect a student's motivation and ability to learn when only dial up internet is available.

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  3. Emily Shea30 de junio de 2020 a las 19:44

    I noticed that during this distance learning period if the students didn’t get how to navigate the computers and find their work, they just did what they knew how. I felt hopeless behind a screen.

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