Reaching and Teaching the Digital Natives
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Pages | 12-13 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050610668124 |
| Author | Jim Gaston |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Reaching and Teaching the Digital Natives
Jim Gaston
12 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 3 2006, pp. 12-13, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050610668124
US culture has been dominated for
the last three decades by the ``Baby
Boomer'' generation (people born
between 1946 and 1964). They belong
to one of the most scrutinized
demographic segments in history ± a
recent Google search for the phrase
``Baby Boomers'' returned over 21
million hits. The November 14, 2005
cover story in Newsweek magazine
chronicled a milestone that is arriving
in the lives of this oft-chronicled
generation ± they are starting to turn 60
years old and their influence on culture
will began to wane. This is only one of
many articles and studies that examined
the first generation to come of age in the
era of modern media. The boomers
were the generation that grew up with
television and it had an impact ± in both
directions. Television shaped the
boomers, and the boomers shaped
television. Professor Douglas Gomery
of the Philip Merrill College of
Journalism at the University of
Maryland states, ``Everything the baby
boomers did was based on what they
saw on television'' (www.newsdesk.umd.
edu/culture/2006/bboom/Gomery.cfm).
If television was a defining influence
over the boomer generation, what is
shaping the generation of students
entering higher education today? A
growing number of educators are
recognizing that this generation has
been heavily influenced by the
pervasive digital media that has
surrounded them literally since birth.
Marc Prensky coined the term ``Digital
Native'' (Presky, 2001) to describe this
generation. The moniker communicates
clearly that these are not subtle changes
to have occurred, but instead this is a
generation of students who act ± and
perhaps even think ± differently than
those that are educating them ± the
so-called ``Digital Immigrants''.
Students today have grown up in a
highly stimulating and interactive
digital environment. Even a cursory
overview of these technologies reveals
a common theme that is instructive to
those who are trying to reach or teach
the Digital Natives. One of the fastest
areas of growth on the Internet is in the
area of what has come to be known as
``social software''. According to
Wikipedia (itself a form of social
software), ``Social software enables
people to rendezvous, connect or
collaborate through computer-mediated
communication and to form online
communities'' (http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Social_Software). These
technologies include e-mail, instant
messaging (IM), blogs, wikis, virtual
worlds, online games and peer-to-peer
social networks (such as Facebook,
Xanga and MySpace).
Teenagers are using these services in
very high numbers. In a recent survey
produced by NetDay, it was revealed
that among high school students, email
and IM are the most popular uses of the
internet (NetDay, 2004) ± 76 percent of
high school students have at least one
IM screen name, and 26 percent have
four or more (NetDay, 2004). MySpace
is a social networking site that might be
unknown to many boomers, but is
routinely ranked among the most
visited sites on the internet (www.
alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=
lang&lang=en) and claims tens of
millions of users ± primarily teenagers.
These trends extend beyond the
internet into other technologies as well.
A simple walk across any college
campus will reveal a large percentage
of students with cell phones either
pressed to their ears, or held in front of
them as they ``text'' a message to a
friend. Students are accustomed to
being in control of their media input ±
they listen to music they have selected,
sorted and categorized into their
personal playlists on their iPods and at
home they watch television shows at
their convenience using Tivo. In their
world, the consumer of information is
in charge ± not the producer.
What do these technologies have in
common and what impact do they have
on the young people who use them? A
common thread that runs through each
of these services is a very high level of
near-instantaneous interactivity controlled
by the consumer. Students who have
been immersed in these environments
are not accustomed to being passive
receptors and have a very high
expectation of the response time
expected from online experiences. It may
seem remarkable to older generations
who grew up communicating through
letters delivered via the postal service,
but e-mail is already being supplanted
by instant messaging (www.cnet.
com.au/software/internet/0,39029524,
40058202,00.htm?type=pop) ± perhaps
because the Digital Natives do not have
the patience for the asynchronous
nature of email communication. Instant
messaging provides immediate
interaction and also allows multiple
conversations to be carried on
simultaneously.
This ability to multi-task is another
characteristic of the Digital Native
generation. Carie Windham, a student
at North Carolina State University,
writes:
My study space ± which could be found
in the average dorm room suite ± is
characteristic of my life. With informa-
tion and accessibility lying effortless at
my fingertips, I have grown accustomed
to juggling multiple tasks at once, at
lightening speed. In the average online
conversation with a friend, for instance, I
am likely to be talking to two others,
shopping online at Barnes & Noble,
laughing out loud at Friends reruns, and
printing off notes from a chemistry
lecture. It is only in the classroom,
therefore, that my mind is trained on
one subject. To keep it in place requires
some flexibility and creativity on the part
of the professor and an understanding of
the basic principles that guide the Net
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