TechIntersect

I just read an interesting article on the Chronicle of Higher Education website today entitled “Generational Myth: Not all young people are tech-savvy” by Siva Vaidhyanathan. The article seems to confirm my suspicion that all of the talk of digital natives and digital immigrants isn’t entirely accurate.

As one who teaches digital technology courses on a regular basis, generalizations about this generation’s facility with technology has left me a bit confused since many of the so-called digital natives seem to be as bewildered by some of the technology concepts as their non digital native counterparts.

Vaidhyanathan writes, “I have taught at both public and private universities, and I have to report that the levels of comfort with, understanding of, and dexterity with digital technology varies greatly within every class.” I couldn’t agree more. Some students seem to be truly digital natives, charging fearlessly into the unknown and acquiring new skills with incredible ease, while others can’t quite ever seem to get off of the ground. To make generalizations about “digital natives” ignores the fact that people are people with incredibly diverse skills, interests and abilities.

In recent years, I have been requiring nearly all of the homework assignments in all of my classes be submitted in webpage format, viewable in a browser. My belief is that all students studying computer technology ought to be able to communicate using the language and formatting of the world wide web. You would not believe the grumbling and resistance I have met since making this a requirement.

As long as it’s not a web development course, I don’t even care if they use MS Word and save their document as HTML, as long as my browser can read it as a native web file. But the grumbling comes when I ask students to secure a web host, even a free host such as AwardSpace or 50Webs. Many don’t have the first clue how this should work, even when I provide step by step instructions how to do it, and many really do not seem to have an interest in learning anything about it.

This semester, I’ve permitted students in some of my classes to go ahead and use a Wordpress blog if they desire, while still encouraging them to make their own website. Most elected to use the blog.

I’ll admit that to some degree, I had bought into the mindset that all young people, being “digital natives” would want to learn using technology tools. But my experience in the classroom after implementing some of these kinds of activities made me quickly realize that students today are no different than previous generations. They are a diverse group with many preferred ways of learning.

Vaidhyanathan also writes, “Once we assume that all young people love certain forms of interaction and hate others, we forge policies and design systems and devices that match those presumptions. By doing so, we either pander to some marketing cliché or force an otherwise diverse group of potential users into a one-size-fits-all system that might not meet their needs.”

This semester in addition to teaching, I am taking a course called “Principles of College Teaching.” One recurring theme has been a discussion of preferred learning styles and the different ways of reaching students who can learn better with different approaches.

A question that I raised in class about this as a computer teacher is: Is it possible to recognize the fact that students are diverse learners, each preferring to learn in different ways, and still emphasize certain teaching and learning methods? Professionals in the field of computing have certain ways of learning that are most often employed, and I wonder if students who come to rely on classroom methods that are not available in the workplace will be at a huge disadvantage.

If I always develop digital media-rich methods of teaching computer technologies, am I hindering students who will eventually be expected to teach themselves new developments in computer technologies, often using nothing more than reference books or reading tutorials on websites?

I believe truly great teachers will use everything in their teaching arsenals to communicate the important concepts. But I also think they should be aware of how the life-long learning will continue once students have moved from the classroom into the workplace.

When I started learning about computer technology in high school in the 1980’s, we learned about computer programming, in part because commercial software wasn’t as widely available as it is today. Schools today often completely bypass the subject of software programming. I think we should take a hard look at this development in education. Are we really teaching computer technology if programming isn’t included?

If you have read this far, and are tired of being a Web 2.0 wimp, then I challenge you to do something about it and learn a little about programming! Download a free copy of Alice, and work through the tutorials. (I plan to write more about Alice in the near future.) At least then you will have a rudimentary understanding of how computer programming works. It’s fun, and you will have knowledge that 99% of the rest of the world knows nothing about.

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