Listen Up! The Digital Native is Speaking
I consider myself a digital native. I was born in 1996 and have grown up in an era of serious technological advancement. I went from a CD player to an mp3 to an iPod. I had flip phone when it was cool. I used the "home computer" for school and fun, and fondly remember visting the computer lab for different activities and tests.
I first realized I "spoke" another language from my older family members when I had to explain what a "tweet" was. This only furthered as I aged, but now it was explaining to my older coworkers how to hyplink a video in a document. During the pandemic, I was selected as our tech support teacher for those struggling with the transition to online teaching. I often found myself being praised for explaining simple tasks and I didn't understand how they just "didn't get it".
That was until I found Tik Tok.
I wanted to watch Tik Tok on my lunch break at school, but kept getting kicked off or the app wouldn't work at all. I knew the app worked on school grounds, because I had seen my students use it in class (many times with out permission). So one day, I just asked them "how do you get Tik Tok to work at school?" and found myself listening to a 13 year old explain the interworkings of VPNs and "hacking the system".
It was in this moment I finally understood why my co-workers had offered so much praise previously. The kids were patient and taught me an easy way to enjoy silly videos on my lunch break. I believe Digital Nativity is a spectrum. My 13 year old student and I are both considered Digital Natives, however we have different dialects, whereas my older coworkers are digital language learners. I feel as if being a digital native is what has brought me succes in the classroom. I am able to understand the technology my students are needing to use, which allows my to integrate technology in a way that extends student learning. I have had experiences were the interfaces of a website or app ruins the learning experience for all.
I do believe that being a Digital Native does not solely define my personality or fully describe my generation (shout out Zillenials). The events of our time impact how we choose to interact in the classroom and what we value. As an educator, it is our role to engage students in meaningful learning experiences. This means we may need to diverge from how we were taught, because our students are not the student we once were.
I am curious to see how my students will one day view the digital world and react when they're future students are having to show them how to work a new, silly app.
Good thing I have social media to keep up with them through it all!
Ha! I loved that cartoon and added it to my blog also. It actually reminds me of my days in the classroom when teachers would have students complete an "Exit Ticket" to show what they had learned. An exit ticket was essentially a blog post that didn't get posted on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI am not a digital native. We did have a computer at home, it used floppy disks! I went to the computer lab once a week in elementary school, did some math problems and played Oregon Trail. I don't recall having computers in my middle school classes, but we did have Home-Ec where we learned to balance the checkbook, cook, and sew along with Wood Shop and Metal Shop classes. In high school I had two computer classes that were both electives. In those classes we learned the basics of word processing and spreadsheets. I went to college with a word processor and had to use the computer lab on campus, if I could grab an open computer, to print my papers. So, I'm definitely not a digital native!
I like this spectrum idea. And context really makes a huge difference in how people use tools, too.
ReplyDeleteMicah, I found this post very relatable. One thing I miss about being in the classroom is how much I learned from my students. I love when the students can become the teachers.
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