Before this assignment, I
was pretty confident that I had a thorough understanding of Millenials. After all, I birthed two of them and felt it
was my duty to NOT be that parent who is constantly shaking their head. However,
after reading about Generation Edge and taking a closer look at who was raising
who (e.g, baby boomers raising millennials, Gen X raising Gen Edge) I have a
different perspective on the outcomes of each generation. The articles discussed substantial findings on
how future generations will use technology to shape their ideologies and skills
sets to satisfy their needs.
As a Baby Boomer I strongly agree
with Jamie McKenzie when she quotes, “high-tech childhood is inadequate
preparation for the real challenges of civic engagement in a high-tech
democracy.” However, as educators we cannot change, in a short period of time,
the challenges that are present when this group enters the classroom. Their expectation of the delivery of
education is different because the environment they grew up and live in is
precipitated by technology and that is all that they know. So as a professional, I must revert to the
adage of “meeting the student where they are” and if infusing technology into
the curriculum accomplishes this task, then that is my responsibility.
Although Prensky’s
article is dated, he is precise in regard to describing the digital natives and
immigrants. The analogies he uses regarding
the delivery of information by a digital immigrant and how it can be met with
confusion and blank stares is not the fault of the digital native. As a
teacher, I have experienced the transition from teaching a lesson using a set
of tattered overheads to teaching the same lesson by allowing the students to
be responsible for their own learning by providing a rubric and allowing them
to create a Webquest.
Additionally, although I
am no neurologist, I support Prensky in the belief that the brains of younger
generations are wired differently. This
is further supported in the article, Generation
Edge: An Early Look at America’s Youngest Generation as the author
describes the characteristics of multitasking.
Such behaviors are perplexing to the one-task-at-a-time baby boomer who
has personally witnessed young people multitask (e.g., text, drive, and
download music on their tablet simultaneously) and not miss a beat. They may run a couple of lights while driving,
but the technology is on track!
Lastly, according to the
articles, the ability to connect with people who are not in one’s immediate presence
is a factor the Millenials and Generation Edge are comfortable with. Years ago, this would have been considered a
deficit in regard to the rules of effective communication. However, it is becoming part of the
norm. Surprisingly, it appears to be a
supported fact that GenEdge will be more private than their predecessors as
they will have seen the consequences, good and bad, of streaming their dirty
laundry live on the internet. This is an example of how technology can and will
be used differently by each generation.
One caveat that the
articles did not address was the student that isn’t technology savvy at all. I
believe that they fall into two categories.
The first category is the student who doesn’t have the cognitive ability
to even use technology. My cognitive
impaired students fall into this category.
I once was teaching a lesson on acronyms and as warm up I asked what
does ‘OMG” mean when texting? 90% of the
students did not know. The other
category of students are those that want to learn but do not have access to
technology. No internet, no computer, no
cell phone. I know, I know, but yes,
there are students who fall into this category.
So, are these the students who will fall through the cracks and just
become the scum of the earth because they don’t have access to a cell phone? Who
knows!
As mentioned previously,
I realize that as an educator I have to be flexible enough to deliver teachable
lessons in the form that students can learn. Although I am currently teaching
in a center based setting for the cognitive impaired, according to my
technology advocate there is technology and manipulatives available that I
could be using to teach this population.
The sad part is that the district is not willing to supply it. A SMART board is, thus, the only technology I
am currently using. On the other hand,
if I were to teach in a regular education setting I would most definitely infuse
technology into the curriculum and not resort to old fashioned overheads. I was
most impressed with the digital immigrant engineers’ dilemma of being proactive
in getting the digital natives to understand their new program. It was ingenious that they rolled it out as a
game which provided a pedagogy for the digital natives to understand. I will keep that example in mind when I
develop lessons that I know will be received by GenEdgers. It is not the content that is subject to
change, it’s the delivery.
