Caught in the Middle

In his article, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Mark Prensky asserts that, “Today’s students – K through college – represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.” At the age of 29 I would submit that I am neither a native or an immigrant. I would submit that I am somewhere caught in the middle.

Growing up we had books, encyclopedias and people went to the library to use the card catalog not the internet. However this really didn’t last very long. Once I got old enough to be cognizant of the world technology was taking over. I can vividly remember when the Disney afternoon debuted on television and gave kids afternoon cartoons or when MTV came out. Let’s not forget when I was 7 and got my first Nintendo Entertainment System. I can remember when we played the Oregon Trail game (always pick the banker the increased funds are just too good to pass up) in middle school and at home email was just starting to take hold.

Things really started to pick up in high school. The cool kids were carrying pagers (not me) and the rich kids had cell phones that looked like mini bricks. In the class rooms we had computer and keyboarding classes to teach us to type but most of us just played games cause we already knew how. The internet was emerging but everyone had dial up at such a slow speed that it really wasn’t useful; the nearest book was still faster. Of course overhead projectors, Scantron, and television were being used in the classroom but email and the internet were not even considered.

In college things really exploded. The college I went to had computers in most of the classrooms and they were networked with fiber optics. This was marvelous, especially when I would hear horror stories about how econ students would slave over statistics problems for hours writing everything out by hand. All I had to do was enter the data into excel or the regression program and it spit out the correlations for me. In the dorms napster, mp3’s, riping/burning cd’s and video games reigned supreme. I must say there were many a hour spent on Mario Kart, Starcraft, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy. The best part of the multi player games is you would play for an hour then talk trash for just as long.

There is no question that I started the world as an immigrant but quickly evolved into a native. I know that completely blows his analogy but I don’t care maybe he needs a new category for people like me. I am someone who would rather “play” with a technology and figure it out then read a manual. I do NOT print out my email (who does that) and can edit things quite easily on a screen. I prefer to text rather than call and I’d rather look things up on the internet then go to the library. These are all things mark lists as native qualities. If I didn’t coach I would put myself squarely in this category but the girls I coach are insane. These girls can text faster than I can talk. I can listen to music and problem solve but I cannot listen to music and read for comprehension. These girls can listen to music, read, talk to me AND text their friend and keep it all straight. Compared to these girls I’m an immigrant but compared to anyone older than me I’m a native.

Despite all the nostalgia and fun I’ve poked at in this entry I think Mark’s ideas have merit. I think this is something that every generation of teachers face. How do we connect with these youngsters today? They just don’t have the same, . . . . . (respect/manners/discipline/attention span) pick one, that we had. In that way I don’t think his work is that ground breaking however I think because technology increased exponentially during the last 20 years the differences are more dramatic. I definitely think putting technology to use is a wonderful idea. Keeping kids so busy looking up info on their cell phones that they can’t use them to text in class is a GREAT idea! I think, “engage me or enrage me” is crap because I think every generation would rather have been playing outside, playing sports, watching tv or playing video games then being in school. I think using the current mediums to interest students is creative and very useful but I don’t like giving kids an excuse for why they won’t do what they need to do.