Reflections on TDC Chapter 1 & Digital Natives

I perused the resources on the separate tabs of TDC Chapter 1. In teaching today, I have already recognized the importance of music as a learning tool. In Integration Corner, I have seen some of the links already, particularly the Library of Congress and Webquest sites. In Software corner, I thought the WebBlender tool was particularly useful and creative. In the Digital Media corner, I liked the United Streaming piece.

I also surprised myself with my computer terminology savvy in the "Who Wants to Be a Computer Genius" game onsite.

I thought the depictions of the net generation as phrased in the Oblinger article and "digital natives, digital immigrants," as phrased in the Prensky article, were fascinating. The noteworthy points in the Oblinger article to me were, the preference of digital age students for images over print, their hypertext minds leaping from concept to concept, preference for experiential learning, speed and instant gratification, and the social components of their acquisition and mastery of material. I also thought it was interesting that while they are fluent in accessing these digital mediums, they still crave face to face interaction with their teachers.

The Prensky article allowed me to see myself as a digital immigrant, holding onto old World learning customs and practices. The awareness of the digital native characteristics is valuable, for teachers, so that we can accomodate their need for speed, randomness, games, entertainment, visual stimuli, and less rigid approaches.