Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

ARTICLE SUMMARY:Digital Natives/Immigrants— This article highlights how students today think and process information fundamentally differently from students of the past. This is a result of beginning surrounded by technology their entire life. This article compares these "digital natives" with the older generation who are learning and adopting new technology naming them "digital immigrants". It compares the facts about the technical and educational skills of native speakers and immigrants. It is more than just a generation gap separating today's students from their teachers. The way the brain is wired and how it responds is different.

What I learned: Students today are able to multitask and are capable of doing so. They learn differntly from previous students. The problem is our educational system has not caught up with them. This is something I have often thought about but never in this detail. I do not allow my children to watch tv, play on the computer, or text their friends during homework time. Maybe I need to take a closer look at how my children function best and quit living in the past myself.

Was this valuable? Yes! Scarry that my children are in school during a time where the generation gap is so large but it provided me with a lot to think about and discuss in my own district.

Discussion critique: Most people seemed to agree that there is a difference in natives vs. immigrants in technology. The natives seem to be much more intuitive about every new skill than the immigrants. The immigrants seem to question why more easily than accepting it just is. There seemed to be an undertone from the immigrants of why we need to change, it has worked just fine in the past. It wasn’t that they didn’t see any benefit from the technology but they didn’t see that the benefit was greater than the benefit from the old school methods. Most still felt that traditional instruction has a place in the classroom and the technology was good but was an extra.

Suggestions on how the discussions could be improved: Nothing - I thought it was great.

21st Century Skills

ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Developing 21st century skills is critical for today's learners. In order to thrive in a digital economy, students will need digital age proficiencies. It is important for the educational system to make changes in order to fulfill the changing needs in society. The curriculum must include skills that prepare students for the world beyond the classroom. The 21st Century Skills is separated into four categories :

21 st Century Themes

• Global awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy
• Civic literacy
• Health literacy

Learning and Innovation Skills

• Creativity and Innovation Skills
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
• Communication and Collaboration Skills

Information, Media and Technology Skills

• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• ICT Literacy

Life and Career Skills

• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self Direction
• Social and Cross Cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility

What I learned: Education is evolving to include more than just reading, writing and math. There are other skills that necessary for our students to learn. I have always felt that education is behind with what is being taught in school and what the world requires. If we want our students to be competitive in the job markets we need to change things that are being taught in our schools. While many of these changes deal with technology there are others that do not. There are many ideas on what needs to be changed but change does not happen quickly in education.

Was this valuable? YES
I had never thought about some of the changes that are needed to help our students be successful in today's economy. Technology is an area that I have thought about for years and wished there were ways the school could integrate more into the curriculum but many of the other topics had never crossed my mind.

Discussion critique:
I think that people we very good about sharing their experiences and opinions. I looked at topics in a way I would have never thought of on my own.

Suggestions on how the discussions could be improved:
I enjoyed this discussion and can not think of a way to suggest improvement. I have really enjoyed participating in the discussion and seeing what others think and are experiencing.