Date: 15.02.19 - 'Digital Natives and Immigrants'

In today’s session, we discussed on the two articles titled, ‘ICTs and Teacher Education: Global Context and Framework’ and ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’ by Marc Prensky. The first article basically talks about a ‘Paradigm Shift’ in education. It tries to compare the traditional view of learning process and the changes that have taken place in the recent times.

We have seen rapid advancement in technology within not many decades. We are now living in a technology-based society whereby there are enormous shifts in the different aspects such as economy, politics, society and culture. And, there are also demands of new knowledge and skills in the work force. ICTs have changed the nature of work and types of skills needed in mist fields and profession. Therefore, it does play a vital role in the education as well.

ICTs provide an array of powerful tools that may help in transforming the present isolated, teacher-centered and text-bound classrooms into rich, student-focused, interactive knowledge environments. Therefore, every education systems around the world can embrace new technologies as a tool for learning. It is important that we endeavor to move from the tradition paradigm of learning.

In order to keep students engaged, take greater responsibilities for their own learning and help them construct their own knowledge, it is crucial that we shift the approach of teaching and learning by embracing different methods using appropriate technologies. Thus, shifting the approach from the traditional mode of learning to more modern mode learning with integration of ICT is referred as paradigm shift.

A shift from teacher-centered instruction to learner-centered instruction is needed to enable students acquire the new 21^st century knowledge and skills. It is going to create more interactive and engaging learning environment for teachers and learners. It is going to change the role of both teachers and students. Students will have greater responsibility for their own learning. So, ICTs will be a powerful tool to support the shift to student-centered learning.

The second article discusses on digital native and digital immigrants. Mark Prensky tries to define what these two terms mean. He said, today’s students represent the first generations to grow up with new technology. He said that different technological devices have become part of their lives and they are called ‘digital natives.’ He said that our students today are all native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet.

Courtesy: https://unicheck.com/blog/digital-immigrants-vs-digital-natives

Those people who are not born into the digital world but have, at some point in their lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are called ‘digital immigrants.’ The paper also says that while digital natives will have fewer appreciations to the new skills that the natives have acquired and also they think that ICTs may not help students learn the concepts and skills in the manner as they use to learn.

The paper also discusses about meeting the needs of the digital natives by integrating ICTs and finding new ways to do different things. It also presents the role of educators to adapt materials to the language of digital natives. It also talks about using different software, games and other online materials to ease teaching and learning process in the schools. If done efficiently, it will not only engage students well but also help them learn more effectively.

To conclude, it is important that we as educators be equipped with necessary ICT skills and knowledge to meet the growing demand of digital natives and make their learning productive and authentic.