Thinking about digital technologies is both scary and exciting. It scares me because there is so much to know but excites me because it can have such a profound effect on learning.
It is obvious that digital technology in the last decades of the 20th century is probably singularly responsible for the incremental change in today’s students from those in the past. Today’s students are growing up surrounded by and using toys and tools of the digital age and as a result, their thinking and processing of information is fundamentally different to mine. I really like how Marc Prensky (2001) describes the students of today. He refers to them as digital natives as they are native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet. In comparison to today’s students, I am a digital immigrant as described by Prensky. I was not born into a digital world but at different points of my life, I have become fascinated by and adopted many aspects of technology.
As I am an immigrant to Australia, I know that immigrants learn to adapt to their environment but will always retain their ‘accent’, or foot in the past to some degree. I do this as a digital immigrant where I have learned to use email, social media, devices like smart phones and iPads and programmes like Excel and PowerPoint, but I have only learned enough to get me by.
Being a digital immigrant leaves me wondering what I will be like as a teacher and will the way I learned skills influence the way I teach skills. I believe that it is important for me to understand I cannot assume the methods that worked for me as a student will work the same for my students because today’s students are different. They are used to receiving information quick, they are able to parallel process and multi-task, they prefer graphics before text, they function best by networking, they thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards and they prefer games to serious work. This confronts me with the need to be a smart immigrant, accept that I don’t know much about the new world and take advantage of the opportunities to develop my technological, cognitive and social competencies, collectively known as digital literacy.
The suggestion by Prensky that we need to reconsider our methodology and content in teaching digital natives makes sense to me. In our methodology, he states that teachers need to learn to communicate in the language and styles of their students. In terms of content, he describes the need for legacy content that includes traditional curriculum in the current era, and future content as digital and technological that includes hardware, software, robotics etc. as well as ethics, politics, sociology, languages etc. This means that as a digital immigrant and pre-service teacher, I need to consider the learning of new things and learning new ways to do old things.
The use of digital technologies in schools or classrooms has not been observed. However, Information Communication Technology (ICT’s) in schools and classrooms has been observed but it has been noticed that use varies between schools and grade levels. Learning that is facilitated by technology has been observed across all learning areas and domains, and includes a wide spectrum of practices, for example:
· Game-based learning
· Accessing digital content
· Assessment and reporting online
· Digital concept mapping
· Use of presentation software
· Use of video
· Use of search engine
The distinct difference between ICT capability and digital technology is that ICT’s support students to be effective users of technology while digital technologies build on and extend ICT, moving students from technology consumers to creators.
It is obvious that digital technology in the last decades of the 20th century is probably singularly responsible for the incremental change in today’s students from those in the past. Today’s students are growing up surrounded by and using toys and tools of the digital age and as a result, their thinking and processing of information is fundamentally different to mine. I really like how Marc Prensky (2001) describes the students of today. He refers to them as digital natives as they are native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet. In comparison to today’s students, I am a digital immigrant as described by Prensky. I was not born into a digital world but at different points of my life, I have become fascinated by and adopted many aspects of technology.
As I am an immigrant to Australia, I know that immigrants learn to adapt to their environment but will always retain their ‘accent’, or foot in the past to some degree. I do this as a digital immigrant where I have learned to use email, social media, devices like smart phones and iPads and programmes like Excel and PowerPoint, but I have only learned enough to get me by.
Being a digital immigrant leaves me wondering what I will be like as a teacher and will the way I learned skills influence the way I teach skills. I believe that it is important for me to understand I cannot assume the methods that worked for me as a student will work the same for my students because today’s students are different. They are used to receiving information quick, they are able to parallel process and multi-task, they prefer graphics before text, they function best by networking, they thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards and they prefer games to serious work. This confronts me with the need to be a smart immigrant, accept that I don’t know much about the new world and take advantage of the opportunities to develop my technological, cognitive and social competencies, collectively known as digital literacy.
The suggestion by Prensky that we need to reconsider our methodology and content in teaching digital natives makes sense to me. In our methodology, he states that teachers need to learn to communicate in the language and styles of their students. In terms of content, he describes the need for legacy content that includes traditional curriculum in the current era, and future content as digital and technological that includes hardware, software, robotics etc. as well as ethics, politics, sociology, languages etc. This means that as a digital immigrant and pre-service teacher, I need to consider the learning of new things and learning new ways to do old things.
The use of digital technologies in schools or classrooms has not been observed. However, Information Communication Technology (ICT’s) in schools and classrooms has been observed but it has been noticed that use varies between schools and grade levels. Learning that is facilitated by technology has been observed across all learning areas and domains, and includes a wide spectrum of practices, for example:
· Game-based learning
· Accessing digital content
· Assessment and reporting online
· Digital concept mapping
· Use of presentation software
· Use of video
· Use of search engine
The distinct difference between ICT capability and digital technology is that ICT’s support students to be effective users of technology while digital technologies build on and extend ICT, moving students from technology consumers to creators.
Key concepts of digital technologies in the Australian Curriculum establish a way of thinking about problems, opportunities and information systems. Key concepts are:
· Abstraction - reduces information and detail to facilitate focus on relevant concepts of data representation and specification, algorithms and implementation, corresponding to key elements of computational thinking.
· Data collection – properties, sources and collection of data.
· Data representation – symbolism and separation.
· Data interpretation – patterns and contexts.
· Specification – description and techniques.
· Algorithms – following and describing.
· Implementation – translating and programming.
· Digital systems – hardware, software, networks and the internet.
· Interactions – people and digital systems, data and processes.
· Impacts – sustainability and empowerment.
I intend to embrace this journey to understand the benefits of the key concepts that underpin the Australian Curriculum learning area of digital technologies and the effect is has on my learning and the learning of my students. I envisage digital technologies to be a transformative process for me and my students as we learn together to develop a range of skills, knowledge and dispositions that can be integrated into other learning areas for deeper understanding of concepts.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). 2017. Digital Technologies. Structure. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/digital-technologies/structure
Prensky, M. 2001. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). 2017. Digital Technologies. Structure. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/digital-technologies/structure
Prensky, M. 2001. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf