I was reading Lowering Higher Education by James E. Côté and Anton L. Allahar recently and was intrigued by their chapter on Technologies. In it they discuss the concept of Digital Natives and whether or not they require a different style of teaching or have a different understanding of learning. Do Digital Natives require a more technologically oriented teaching method in order to be engaged? Côté and Allahar discuss the background of this idea and show how it is based in some misguided philosophy and assumptions, and then focus on results, showing that where universities have increased the amount of technology in their classes there is no proof of a corresponding increase in engagement.
That being said I wanted to discuss what it feels like being a Digital Native and going through, and working in the education system.
I actually dislike the term Digital Native, but as it is the one used in this discourse I’ll continue with it.