[TIPS] Digital Natives? Really?

When some folks argue as to why we need to be using technology in the schools they will say that “The kids are already doing this stuff”, or “The kids today are digital natives and they think differently” and even, “Their brains are different.” And, in the area of teacher preparation we used to say, “When the next batch of new teachers hits the schools THEN we’ll see the change we’re looking for.” But that hasn’t happened, has it?

I admit that I, too, used to say that. But then, about three years ago I began to question that assumption. I wasn’t seeing it. Nor was I hearing it when talking with teachers. In fact, I wanted to put together a survey (And Scott McLeod was going to host it) that would try to find out how ‘native’ the ‘natives’ actually were. Alas, it just never happened. And a part of me was a little reluctant to actually find out the truth. If it turned out that the kids truly were NOT al that tech savvy as we were assuming, THEN what would our rallying cry be? And, how much credibility would we have lost when forced to shift gears with our assumptions?

Yes, we can point to some kids who are phenomenal programmers, or who are creating some very clever mashups, or even some that ARE using the tools for personal learning. But, I can also point to some who can do NONE of those things. And I can point to a lot of others who can type and save and print but who cannot tell you what a blog is (“Oh! My Space is a blog? Well then I have one.”) or what a wiki is, unless they can point to wikipedia.

Regardless, check out these three articles:
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/22/digital-immigrants-teaching-the-net-generation-much-ado-about-nothing/
 
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/23/net-generation-nonsense-mark-bullen-discusses-teaching-and-learning/
 
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/26/though-net-generation-concerns-overhyped-integrating-technology-the-right-step/

I’d LOVE to hear what you think.