Digital+Natives+SU2011


 * Rose's Article**

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: The Luxury of Digital Abundance Vol. 53, No. 7 (April 2010), pp. 600-603 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25653909

After reading Prensky's article, I found his definitions of "native" and "immigrant" a little bit overly simplistic and problematic (not to mention that the terms themselves are a bizarre framework on which to impose the issues of the digital world). This one mentions the division as between "residents" and "visitors", which I think makes a little more sense.

This was an article that I found in The Nation. I think it's a great piece by someone questioning what the digital era is doing to some people. []
 * From Luca Fiore:**

Eduction Week's Digital Directions: "School test E-Reader Devices with Dyslexic Students." (October 2010). [].
 * Emilie's Article**

This article takes "the jury's still out" approach, but it touches on some important questions that "Digital Natives" raises. One rather interesting point that this article brings up is the tremendous benefit of being able to digitally review the notes taken by students into the digital reader.

Gabriel, Trip. "Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media." //New York Times//. 12 May 2011 This article focuses on the increase in the use of "backchannels" to encourage students to tweet and have a feed discussion during class. The article makes a similar claim as Prensky about students' ability to multitask. The article shares several success stories about using this microblogging from elementary school to college campuses. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/education/13social.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=using%20technology%20in%20the%20classroo&st=cse
 * Natasha's Article**


 * Kaitlin's Article**

This article pushes for teachers to adapt their "digital native" populations by building their own digital fluency. The article is reassuring and realistic because it stresses that teachers should start slow, and incorporate technology as they learn and become comfortable with new knowledge and tools. After teachers begin to learn, the article suggests teachers build momentum more quickly and carry their classrooms forward into digital exploration. Weaver, Guy. "Changing Society: Why Teachers Need to Embrace Technology." //Teacher's.Net.// 1 June 2011. http://teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/guy-weaver/129/.


 * Tory's Article**

I read this article in New York Magazine during the spring of my senior year in college and it made a lasting impression on me, so I wanted to share it. It isn't specifically about "digital natives" vs. "digital immigrants", but it is absolutely related to Prensky's argument. At one point in the article Prenksy asks: "Is it that Digital Natives //can't// pay attention or that they //choose// not to?" As someone who considers herself to exist somewhere between "digital immigrant" and "digital native", I often wonder if I am losing the ability to pay attention. Reading this article made me deeply consider the benefits of being a part of a technology-saturated era: [|In Defense of Distraction] http://nymag.com/news/features/56793/ //Interesting Nuggets...// "Maybe, in flights of irresponsible responsibility, they’ll even manage to attain the paradoxical, Zenlike state of focused distraction."
 * "It’s possible that we’re evolving toward a new techno-cognitive nomadism, in which restlessness will be an advantage."
 * At the end, when he comments on "Digital Natives" specifically:

(I posted this but then it deleted itself.) Prensky's description of the "digital immigrant" included a reference to multitasking. " Digital Immigrants don ‟ t believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they (the Immigrants) can ‟ t." I'm not totally on board with this sentiment. While I think that multitasking is a valuable skill it has varying degrees of success. If you are multitasking it means that you are not giving anything your full attention. There is a time and a place for multitasking but the classroom is not that place all the time. I have a hard time believing that a student is learning all that he or she can when he or she is texting in class. This got me thinking about how the influx of digital media in daily life has increased the need for multitasking in general.
 * Natalie's Article**

Here is an article from Time Magazine:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/186125/The-Multitasking-Generation-Multitasking-in-the-Digital-Age-Highlighted


 * Ali's Article**

In this piece of commentary in The Globe and Mail (a Canadian newspaper), the author argues that the Canadian businesses will fall behind if the government does not start to support digital literacy. I found it because I was interested in the digital literacy gap that I observe in my own classroom--some students are experienced with computers and other digital technology, while others needed instruction to type in a basic word processor. ===[|We're overdue for a //digital//-economy strategy - Commentary]=== I found the article through: [|//Digital Literacy// - The Key to Canada's Future Productivity]

This is an article that discusses Prensky's distinction, challenging it by saying that that the immigrant vs. native terminology over-states the rift, assumes a certain homogeneity and poses a dangerous metaphor in invoking the immigrant/native dichotomy.
 * Emily's Article**

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