ETEC 510 New Designs for New Learning Discussion Post

I enjoyed reading Prenskys (2001) about digital natives versus digital immigrants
because it was a topic that I could thoroughly relate to. It is very rare for me to teach a
high school student now that doesnt have a smartphone, and to most students, this seems
to be their most prized possession. Many of my students are glued to their twitter feeds,
instagram, snapchat, facebook wall, and texts. Technology certainly isnt going away, so
I feel like it is my job as an educator to figure out ways to harness the amazing potential
of technology for learning and teach students in ways that are relevant to their digitally
infused lives. As Prensky states, if Digital Immigrant educators really want to reach
Digital Natives i.e. all their students they will have to change (2001, p. 1).

What might Education for the Present look like, and how might we best support its
proliferation in classrooms?
Education for the Present should use technology in ways that are fun and
engaging that students can relate to. The advent of modern technology also affords
increased differentiation in learning, as computerized marking should make it easier to
determine what students already know, and what they have yet to learn.

What kinds of designed spaces support collective intelligence and how might these
be thought of as properly educational?
I have found that over the last few years, the structure of my classes has changed.
If an administrator were to drop by my room five years ago, they may have seen me
standing at the front of the class and lecturing, while students sit in neat rows, copying
down the information from the board into their notebooks. While I admit that I still do
this once in a while, it is much more likely now that an administrator would walk by my
room and see students engaged in a wide variety of activities. Some students may be
using desktop computers around the perimeter of the classroom, others may be doing
research or creating presentations on their own phones, iPads, or laptops. Other students
may be working collaboratively in groups, while referring to the textbook, and other
students may choose to work quietly and independently. Students tend to be more
motivated and on task if they are given some element of choice as to what activity they
will be working on that day.

What are the main challenges and risks to integration of collective intelligence tools
into schools?
I think that teachers need to be willing to accept that todays students are no
longer the people our educational system was designed to teach (Prensky, 2001, p. 1).
Educators need to adapt their teaching methods in order to relate to todays digital natives.
What assumptions about learning do we need to give up if we loosen up our
understandings of authorship and originality?
I think that not only will authorship and originality be an issue, in terms of
copyright concerns and intellectual property, but assessment will become incredibly
challenging as knowledge construction became more collaborative and less individual.


What are the silo structures in the world of education?
I see this as a very relevant question. I used to think that all the individual subjects,
such as Math, English, and Music, were the silo structures in the world of education.
However, I see education as becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, so it will be
interesting to see what remains as the major supporting structures in education as
technology affords new designs for new learning.

Reference:

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.