Episode 2, January, 2008

Problems with Prensky! Do “Digital Natives” REALLY Exist?

I was fascinated by the responses of faculty I talked with on Prensky’s Digital Immigrant:Digital Native concept. One professor expressed anger and frustration in being inundated with more “unproven educational technology” when their favorite teaching method was demonstrated to be superior in the movie “Karate Kid”. Other professors were more than miffed about being classified as “computer challenged” because of ageism or their disinterest in the latest “fads in education.” Although I spend a lot of time computing, I am so busy just teaching that I am not well informed about the latest fads in education or technology. I am trying to use this column as a way to force myself to experience something new and I’m hoping to drag a few of you along for the ride. When I was an undergraduate biology major the department chairman had a sign on his door that said “I ride a Kreb’s Cycle!” Just another passing fad? What year was that (1964)?
McGee and Diaz’s “Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh My!” is a place to start with “What is a Faculty Member Supposed to DO?” They summarized the “Latest, Greatest, and Most Promising” “Web 2.0” free online web-based technologies that share ideas, information and creations (podcasts, blogs), that promote working with others in a shared work area (Wikis) or that collect and present evidence or experiences over time (blogs). [see also 7 things you should know about Blogs and Wikis, below.]
I decided to try and take advantage of these new technologies to examine how the “Immigrants” should be teaching the “Natives” and why the “Natives” are restless! It seems that not everyone who writes blogs or wikis agrees on what to make of all this. There are dissenters out there and I have space only to summarize the high points – please punch the links and explore this extensive literature on your own!
Bill Kerr, founding author of LearningEvolves – nativesImmigrants, begins his wiki with the statement “Prensky is a good provocateur but his slogans and analysis have not been seriously critiqued.” Participants then have linked their own wikis to his by posting a link and a short summary of their opinion(s) on the subject including “the problem with Prensky”; “the myth of the digital native” and “The digital native, the digital naive and the digital divide” among others. A link will lead you to a GREAT depth of discussion from a variety of points of view. My favorite was “Digital Natives and Digital Knowledge - not necessarily a matched set”:
“Digital natives have digital expectations, not necessarily digital skills. In other words, that flock of students that some of us keep expecting - the one in which all the students can hand-code Web pages and understand the underlying structures behind our digital world - they're not coming.”
George Siemens, Connectivism Blog, Digital natives and immigrants: A concept beyond its best before date” begins with his essay on the subject and readers have submitted comments and contributions to the discussion he began. He does this every week on a different subject, it’s a personal web column on learning theory for the digital age. He begins this one with:
“Why has the idea of immigrants and natives gained so much ground, in the apparent absence of effective research? I assume the concept of immigrant/native gained popularity because it expresses emotions/feelings many educators have about next generation students. They are, like every generation before, different. The memorable distinction between immigrant/native is a theme that transfers readily amongst educators, largely because the inherent ambiguity allows us to see/speak our experiences and biases into the terms. The life we see in immigrant/native terminology is what we ourselves bring to the definition. But I don't think the distinction has merit beyond a buzz phrase that has outlived the role it initially played in getting educators to think about the different types of learners now entering our classrooms.”
Does that make you want to read more? George Siemens closes his blog with a reference to Jamie McKenzie’s review article on “Digital Nativism, Digital Delusions, and Digital Deprivation.” Jamie talks about two thinly supported claims in Prensky's work: #1 a really big discontinuity! “Throughout his article Prensky makes similar grandiose claims that are entirely unsubstantiated with any evidence. He presents no data or studies to back up a central thesis of his paper.” #2 – Brain change! “Prensky took extreme liberties with the work of Dr. Perry, not even bothering to cite his work or spell his name correctly. If anything, Perry is arguing against the digital world that Prensky welcomes and celebrates.”
In another comment on the Connectivism Blog, one of the authors of a critical review of the evidence for 'digital natives' that will appear in the British Journal of Educational Technology this year offers a copy of the paper in draft form. Bennett, Maton and Kervin conclude with:
“The time has come for a considered and disinterested examination of the assumptions underpinning claims about digital natives such that researchable issues can be identified and dispassionately investigated. This is not to say that young people are not engaged and interested in technology and that technology might not support effective learning. It is to call for considered and rigorous investigation that includes the perspectives of young people and their teachers and that genuinely seeks to understand the situation before proclaiming the need for widespread change.”
I am way behind my submission deadline because learning about new ways to learn has been so interesting this month. I hope you enjoyed the ride and join in. Explore the links and send me some comments? Maybe we need a e-Learning Wiki or Blog? I am motivated to learn more and to see how this institution could try out new educational technology not because we need to meet the needs of the restless “Natives” but because it could enable us to do more and involve a greater proportion of our students and faculty in a cycle of interested self-education and improvement. I hope its also because its fun for everyone, even the “Karate Kid”.

EDUCAUSE Publications:
CONNECT Home > EDUCAUSE Review > Archive > Volume 42, Number 6, November/December 2007
CONNECT Home > EDUCAUSE Quarterly > EQ Archives > Volume 30, Number 4, 2007

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7 Things You Should Know About...
The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) 7 Things You Should Know About... series provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices. Each brief focuses on a single technology or practice and describes: What it is; How it works; Where it is going; Why it matters to teaching and learning

7 Things You Should Know About Blogs

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis

Bibliography
McGee, P. and Diaz, V. Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh, My! What is a faculty member to do? Educause Review, September, 2007:29-40.

Bill Kerr, LearningEvolves – nativesImmigrants [wiki]; Blog: http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/; Website: http://www.users.on.net/~billkerr/

Siemens, George. Digital natives and immigrants: A concept beyond its best before date. Connectivism Blog. Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age. Posted by George Siemens on October 22, 2007 2:56 PM

McKenzie. Jamie, Digital Nativism, Digital Delusions, and Digital Deprivation. in [sic.]“from now on, the educational technology journal. 17 (2) November 2007.

Bennett, S., Maton, K. & Kervin, L. (in press, 2008) The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology.