Of Digital Natives and Analog Institutions

Are you a digital native or a digital immigrant?

Before I begin, I need you to humor me and determine which of the following best fits you. I know, chances are you are somewhere in between the two, but just go with me for a minute.

Digital Immigrant: You were born before technology was part of everyday life. You did not carry a smartphone when you were twelve. You did most of you high school research in a library because you couldn’t check out the reference books you needed for your history papers. You both know what a typewriter is, and have used one for non-ironic purposes.

Digital Native: In your experience, there has always been an internet, and you don’t know how to make the dial-up sound. You knew how to navigate a smartphone and an iPad before you could read. You use your parents’ old CDs for coasters and believe videogame controllers with cords are a myth. You think people who fax are adorable.

Ok, know which you are? Just choose one. I’ll wait.

Ready?

If you are a digital immigrant, close your eyes for a minute. Wait. Don’t close your eyes, because then you can’t read this.

Let’s start again.

If you are a digital immigrant, consider for a moment the following scenario: You arrive at your first college class to find no textbooks or other teaching materials; instead, you are asked to take notes during hours-long, marathon lectures. Those notes are the materials you will study from, and contain the information on which you will be tested. Oh – and you don’t get to use paper and a pen to take your notes. Instead, you’re given a slate and a piece of chalk. Would it be tough to focus, effectively master course content, and process the information for future tests? You bet it would.

If you are a digital native attending any one of the vast majority of college classes, you can ignore the above scenario as, likely, you already feel about the same way as the imaginary student above. 

In higher education, there are any number of challenges regarding the teaching of digital natives. In many ways, digital natives are, themselves, a disruption (a term typically reserved for technological innovations rather than people). I believe Marc Prensky (2012) was right when he called out the heart of the issue: Today’s students are markedly different that those of the past, and they have changed so significantly as to no longer be the students our current educational system was designed to teach.

The result is a generation of students who are not served well by a system whose purpose it is to serve them. It is a conundrum without a quick, or easy, fix.

So what can be done?

In short, students have to adapt, and so do institutions.

That said, much of the compromise required between student and school is due to pace: technology continues to evolve at an incredible pace, and higher education changes at glacial pace. Even when it does embrace change and innovation, higher ed simply cannot keep up with technology, so even if change is occurring it will take time. This means, in the meantime, students will have to adapt as well. It will take efforts on both sides for the relationship to be a mutually beneficial one.

The fact that change is hard does not mean colleges and universities don’t have to do it. Schools must update their technology, what is available in the classroom, in libraries, in student services, and across the campus. This is vital in order to both educate students, and to prepare them for the modern workforce. As institutional technology is updated and improved, faculty and staff must also be equipped to instruct with, and otherwise utilize, it. As the majority of today’s higher ed employees are digital immigrants, this will require adequate and ongoing training.  

Both educators and students must also recognize, and respect, the unique expertise of the other.

In simplest terms, digital natives are the experts on digital natives (Heitner, 2014). If faculty and administrators want to understand their students, I assert spending time sitting in meetings, having well intentioned conversations, and reading the enlightened opinions of other digital immigrants is not the best way to accomplish this. Instead, I humbly suggest educators go to their students and ask for their input regarding what works for them, what they want in their education environment, and what they need from their instructors (Prensky, 2012). Students must also remember educators are the experts on education, and trust that most educators are there because they truly want to see students succeed academically and beyond.

Students and schools can both succeed; in fact, for one to be successful the other must as well.

Whether you are a native or an immigrant, think I am on to something important or entirely off base, I’d love to hear from you.

References

Heitner, D. (2014). The challenges of raising a digital native [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQdAOrqvGg

Prensky, M. (2012). From digital natives to digital wisdom: Hopeful essays for 21st century learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.