Name: Jolissa Cunningham

ID #: SS9455
Lecturer: Ms Campbell
Course: Educational Technology
Date: September 16, 2014
Institution: Sam Sharpe Teachers College


Title page


What should we call these new students of today? Some refer to them as the N-[for Net]-gen
or D-[for digital]-gen. But the most useful designation I have found for them is Digital Natives.
Our students today are all native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games
and the Internet. (Prensky, 2001)
This assessment task is based on the article by Prensky (2001). Write a six (6) page essay
which uses or captures the quotation above and the criteria provided below. (N.B. The
cover page and reference page are not included in the six (6) pages required.)
1. Discuss three (3) ways in which Digital Natives demonstrate being native speakers of the
digital language.
2. Explain one (1) implication for the teacher who teaches Digital Natives.
3. Describe one (1) implication for policy makers in their quest to equip Digital Natives with the
required skills for the future.
4. Using relevant examples, give details of three (3) ways in which the teacher could integrate
technology in teaching and learning, to aid in improving the quality of students learning
experiences. The examples given should indicate how the teacher will be able to speak the
language of the Digital Natives and improve the quality of education for our students.
Please note that included in the criteria for assessment are evidence of research, use of language
and proper referencing using APA.







Mark Scheme
Content 25 marks
Evidence of Research 2 marks
Language 3 marks
Total
30 marks







INTRODUCTION

What are we without technology now? Everything we use and everywhere we go there is a
technology! So where do we all stand in this fast growing age of technology. So what is
technology, technology is the use of science in industry, engineering, to invent useful things or to
solve problems. Well according to Marc Prensky (2001) What should we call these new
students of today? Some refer to them as the N-[for Net]-gen or D-[for digital]-gen. But the most
useful designation I have found for them is Digital Natives. Our students today are all native
speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. So you may ask
what are native digital has Prensky said, according to techopedia.com it defines digital native are
technological savvy from a tender age even without being officially taught how to manipulate
computer gadgets.
They begin to interact with technology extremely earlier in the developmental years. Also digital
native are person born in the twentieth century or from (1995). In the realm of education, the
digital natives are todays students who have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using
digital tools like computers, cell phones, etc., (Minghui, 2011).So what the rest are of called
who are Digital Natives well you are known as Digital Immigrants. Digital Immigrants are
individuals who were born before the widespread adoption of digital technology. They are
people who less appreciate the use of technology in today's day and age. These persons prefer the
traditional way of completing tasks.


1. According to Prensky three (3) ways in which Digital Natives demonstrate being
native speakers of the digital language are: they are able to receive information really fast, they
like to parallel process and multi-task and they prefer random access (like hypertext).Digital
Natives are able to receive information really fast. Digital Natives are always using some form of
technology and of such are able to send and receive information at a quick pace. Through text
messaging, television broadcast and social networks they are always connected to others and
whenever something occurs the information can be easily and quickly transmitted. They are also
connected to the internet where they can quickly gain information related to their school work in
order to complete assignments given. Digital natives look to the Internet as a first options when
seeking information which in most cases is quicker than taking a visit to the library.
Digital natives like to parallel process and multi-task. According to princeton.edu,
parallel processing is the ability to carry out multiple operations or tasks simultaneously. The
term is used in the contexts of both human cognition, particularly in the ability of the brain to
simultaneously process incoming stimuli, and in parallel computing by machines. Multitasking,
in a human context, is the practice of doing multiple things simultaneously, such as editing a
document or responding to email while attending a teleconference. Similarly to human
multitasking, refers to performing multiple tasks at the same time. In a computer, multitasking
refers to things like running more than application simultaneously, ( Rouse, 2013). Digital
natives prefer to use more than one media at a time and they prefer to perform more than on task
at a time. In doing so they feel more productive and tasks may be completed at a much faster
pace. Multitasking can also give digital natives a sense of control, as they use multiple
technologies to access various points of information to solve a problem or complete a task.
Digital natives prefer random access (like hypertext). According to
businessdictionary.com, random access is the direct (out of sequence or random) access by a
computer (CPU) to any memory address of a data storage device, without starting from the first
address every time the data needs to be read. More precisely called Direct Access. Hypertext is
text that links to other information. By clicking on a link in a hypertext document, a user can
quickly jump to different content, (Hypertext, 2014). Being a digital native an individual would
rather send a link to another person instead of having the person coming into the room to view a
video. An example of this is the sharing of links to websites between myself and my peer while
completing assignments. This is less time consuming as well as more interesting to digital
natives.

2. One implication for the teacher who teaches Digital Natives is that they will have to
cope with the time, forget the past and work on the present to make the future better thus the
teacher will have to integrate technology in her classroom as much as possible. Some teachers of
today are digital natives while the majority is digital immigrants. As teachers or digital
immigrants we cannot be stuck in the past and expect that things wont change, it will so dont
be surprise I just want teachers of todays generation to integrate a lot of technology in their class
to make the future a better one. There are many ways in which one can integrate technology in
their class. They can use Web 2.0 tools, Microsoft PowerPoint program, and multimedia devices.
Technology can be used in every subject area. So you think Language Arts cant be taught using
technology? You need to try Microsoft office Movie Maker. With this software after a Language
Arts lesson such as Parts of Speech you could make a movie about a part of speech such as
adjectives and have your students using different adjectives in the story, this will be a great thing
that will increase their attention span and this will boost their memory because they will want to
watch the movie over and over as such they will remember what was said about adjectives and
they will be anticipating the following Language Arts topic. In subject such as Mathematics and
Science where hands-on is required it is best to use videos, pictures and concepts maps because
these subject is taught best by observing, analyzing, seeing how things happen and why they
happen. The teacher should view any material that they would like to share with their students
such as videos because technology is very diverse and not all content should be viewed by
children because remember there are students in your class especially boys who are very aware
of technology and will mock you if the video was just a funny video or its boring as well. What
teachers can do is that they can try to use the technology and make their own tools, hence this
will be useful and it will benefit the teacher because by doing this it will help them to grasp the
technology more, feel confident in front of their class and let the students think that they really
know what they are doing by using technology.

3. One implication for policy makers in their quest to equip Digital Natives with the
required skills for the future is that they will have to invest more money in the education system
to improve technology in the classroom. In Jamaica The Ministry of Education had planned to
issue tablets to every school in Jamaica about 2012 to 2013, however only some schools in
Kingston had received the tablets. The goal of this plan was to help in equipping Digital Natives
with the required skills they will need in order to improve their learning however this plan is
somehow lingering on the way because days, months and years are going by without the
fulfilment of these promises. I would imply the Ministry of Education to invest more money in
facilitating technology in schools, because I have being to too many schools that are either lack
of enough technology equipment such as computers and printers or the equipment needs fixing.
With the current upgrading of technology I am not saying that the Ministry should try to upgrade
technology in school as rapidly as how technology upgrades but try and move a bit faster. As
technology increases it makes life easier everyday so the computers that used to consist of CPU,
keyboard and monitor, are now getting old fashioned to the newly invented laptops and tablets
that are portable, easy to transport and more easier to use hence, this will be of much importance
to teachers as well as students because it will make their work easier. The education ministry is
one of the most important entity in supporting digital natives as such they need to invest more
money in the technology aspect of the school system.

4 Firstly, another way in which teachers could integrate technology in teaching and learning is
that they could use Microsoft PowerPoint program. PowerPoint can enhance a teachers
presentation and the overall comprehension of students. It is a program that allows teachers to
present their lessons in a more dynamic and creative way than simply lecturing and writing on
the blackboard. It provides the ability to equip your presentations with different types of media
such as including images, sounds, animations, and much more. This enhances the students'
abilities to retain what they're being taught, especially those who are visual learners. This can be
very effective when teachers can interact with the students instead of writing on a board or
reading from a book, because the text and the entire presentation are already there in the form of
a PowerPoint file. Students can use PowerPoint as well to boost their public speaking skills and
to aid their visual aids in doing class presentations.
Web2.0 tools are another way in which teachers may in co-operate technology in the classroom.
Web 2.0 is about revolutionary new ways of creating, collaborating, editing and sharing user-
generated content online. It's also about ease of use. There's no need to download, and teachers
and students can master many of these tools in minutes. Technology has never been easier or
more accessible to all. Tools that create or support a virtual learning environment. Tools that
support communication and cultivate relationships. Resources to support teaching and learning.
Tools enabling students to create artefacts representing what they are learning. According to
Prensky digital natives love parallel process and works well when networked as a result using
web 2.0 tools in the classroom will get students engaged and doing something they love while
learning.

Lastly, the final way in which teachers could integrate technology in teaching and learning is that
they could use Multimedia tools such as videos, music, games, recordings, and much more).
Teachers can incorporate multimedia in their instruction to capture attention, motivate learners,
inspire different learning style, inspire creativity, engage learners, explain difficult concepts,
have fun, teaches skills that will help our students become life-long learners and prepared for the
job force and so much more. An example of a way in which a multimedia tool that can be used in
a Spanish classroom is to download a song, video or cartoon which involves persons talking in
Spanish so that students can view or listen to this and learn new Spanish words from it. Because
I am focusing on Primary school students the objective would be to learn new Spanish words so I
would instruct them before the video that they should record a certain amount of words from the
video depending on the grade I am using this to teach. In keeping up with the digital natives of
today multimedia tools are one of the most important tools that can grab your students attention,
help them to remember what they learn and be on track with your students who are digital
natives and the world.
It is impossible not to consider to try to work with the new world Digital Natives, if you dont
you will be suffering from this because you will be the one who will lose your job being a
teacher who is a digital immigrant because the students will not learn anything because the
environment they were brought up will allow them to not accept a classroom without the
integration of technology.























References

Digital Immigrant. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2014, from techopedia.com:
www.techopedia.com/definition/28139/digital-immigrant

Digital Natives (November, 2006) In Digital Natives Wiki. Retrieved from
http://www.digitalnative.org

Hypertext. (2014). Retrieved from www.techterms.com:
http://www.techterms.com/definition/hypertext
Parallel processing. (2010, November 20). Retrieved from princeton.edu:
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Parallel_processing.html

Prensky, Marc. (October, 2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrievedfrom
http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/Prensky%20-
%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.htm

Prensky, Marc. (2007) To Educate, We Must Listen. Retrievedfrom
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-To_Educate,We_Must_Listen.pdf

Minghui, W. (2011, Novemeber 09). Digital Natives. Retrieved from wiki.nus.edu.sg:
http://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/SPORE/5.1+Digital+Natives+VS+Digital+Immigrants

Rouse, M. (2013, August). Multitasking-in-humans. Retrieved from whatis.techtarget.com:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/multitasking-in-humans