The China Syndrome

Last night, as part of my class on Emerging Instructional Technology at the University of Northern Iowa[1], I participated in a multi-dimensional chat experience. We were connected through the chat client in WebCT, audio  & video through MeBeam, and virtually through SecondLife (SL). As a digital immigrant, I think I experienced meltdown.

One of the things I've observed is the simplicity with which my kids (all digital natives) communicate in a nonlinear fashion via multiple methods. My son can be immersed in a massively multiplayer game (World of Warcraft), talking to his friends within this game via a headset, talking to friends in the room with him, and sending / receiving text messages all at the same time.

Last night, I have to admit, I felt overwhelmed at trying to keep all of the different environments active at the same time. I would follow the chat in WebCT for a few minutes only to find that all of my classmates had left the room in SL and I was standing their with my head hanging and the word (Away) hovering above me.

One of the purposes for this little experiment, in addition to exposing us to the different technologies, was to demonstrate the divide between digital natives and digital immigrants.[2] Trust me, I felt it.

Of the various technologies in use, I found the MeBeam channel to be of greatest benefit. Through MeBeam, I could see and hear the interaction of the different students online. Moreover, it gave me a much greater appreciation for the emotions and genuine feedback in a two-way conversation than with the WebCT or SL chat.

For example, our professor, Dr. Leigh Zeitz, kept his microphone open the entire time. In addition to talking, he would type into the chat client. As I listened to what he was saying and then saw how that was reflected in the text of the chat, I missed all of the texture the audio provided. He might laugh, for example at something someone said, but that was not reflected in the chat.

Reflecting on this experience, the obvious question to be answered is how can we employ these technologies in an educational setting? As demonstrated by last night's experience, I am probably more of an immigrant than I care to imagine.

We immigrants were entertained by the 1950s SciFi adventures like Buck Rogers. (Even those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 70s.) When Star Wars came out in 1977, that was a giant step forward in technology for the movie industry. Compare, however, Buck Rogers (or even Star Wars) with Star Wars: Episode III, released in 2005. The level of technology used to make this movie is common-place for today's digital natives. They watch a movie like Star Wars: Episode III then go home, plug the game into their PlayStation 2 and become Luke Skywalker. They can experience the battles he fought in the movie and match wits against the evil emperor. I watched Star Wars in 1977 and went home and picked up the controller to my Atari 2600 and played Pong (a little white dot that moved back and forth across the screen).

         

         Digital Immigrants                               Digital Natives                                    

              

                   Pong (ca. 1977)                          

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (PS2)

Bridging the Gap Between Immigrants (Educators)
and Natives (Students)

Even though I am less than a month into this degree program, it's clear that an entirely new paradigm is needed to bridge the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants within an educational setting. Students today are frustrated, for example, by an educational system that requires rote memorization when in their digital world facts are instantly available.

"Why should I memorize the presidents of the United States," a student can argue, "when I can pull up a list instantly from any web browser?"

As the Partnership for 21st Century Skills observes in their white paper, "The Intellectual and Policy Foundations of the 21st Century Skills Framework":

Today’s learning technologies give us the means to work smarter and learn more effectively. Schools, though, have not always been able to keep pace with their relentless advance. Too often new digital devices are employed without reference to new approaches to learning. Educators, researchers, and technologists need to continue to work together so that learners of all ages can fully realize the benefits of today’s learning tools. [3]

To give educators some guidelines, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) developed 13 Essential Conditions to Effectively Leverage Technology for Learning. These include:

• Shared Vision
• Implementation Planning
• Consistent and Adequate Funding
• Equitable Access
• Skilled Personnel
• Ongoing Professional Learning
• Technical Support
• Curriculum Framework
• Student-Centered Learning
• Assessment and Evaluation
• Engaged Communities
• Support Policies
• Supportive External Context

For more on these guidelines, access the document on the ISTE web site here.

References

[1] Emerging Instructional Technology is a part of the M.A. Instructional Technology degree offered by the University of Northern Iowa.

[2] The terms "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" were coined by Marc Prensky. Digital natives are students who are all "native speakers" of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. Those of us who grew up prior to the digital age are referred to as "digital immigrants." While we are adopting many of the aspects of the new technology, it is not our "native tongue." As Prensky observes, "As digital immigrants learn -- like all immigrants, some better than others -- to adapt to their environment, they always retain, to some degree, their "accent," that is their foot in the past. [Source: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Marc Prenskey, 2001. Access the original article here.]

[3] Parnership for 21st Century Skills. "The Intellectual and Policy Foundations of the 21st Century Skills Framework," p. 6. 2007