Prensky, Prensky. He's our man. If he can't do it.....

Marc Prensky presents a fascinating viewpoint on technology and the learner. As such, we as teachers need to bridge our own digital divide in terms of what we are comfortable with and what our students are comfortable with. I hope to put my own position in perspective and provide some answers to the question of the benefits of technology in the classroom.

What do I consider myself in terms of being a digital native, immigrant, or alien? Of the examples of digital immigrant accents described by Prensky in Digital Natives, Digital Immigrant, “needing to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen)” etc., I don’t recall doing any of those. (Though I probably did print out articles to read during the initial explosion of the internet.) I might be considered an early digital native who is immigrating into a more complex digital world. I had a dial telephone while growing up, but my parents were some of the first in town to have cable television and a computer. Unfortunately, I was never able to use the computer for games. I had to go to friends’ houses to do that. I didn’t have access to computers in my school district until I was in seventh grade (1985-1986). The first thing I did on the internet (early nineties) was look at pictures of my favorite NFL team, and each picture took forever to download. Thus, I decided my time was better spent at the rec center. I guess you could classify me as having a digital native attribute, I “crave interactivity—an immediate response to their each and every action.” I got my first e-mail address as a sophomore in college, but I didn’t really know what to use it for. I obtained my first cellphone at the age of 26. It didn’t have text messaging and cost me over $40 a month for 100 anytime minutes. I didn’t own my own computer until an old one was given to me by the IT guy at work back in 2003. I finally bought a new computer in 2006. And, lastly, I got high speed internet in my home for the first time in 2008. So, obviously I’m slow to adapt, but I can neither be consider a full digital native nor a full digital immigrant. I could be considered a digital natigrant or immitive.

Since I deem myself as being part digital immigrant and digital native, I have had some differing experiences with technology in the classroom. My high school experience with computers was very minimal. Computers were either used as tools for practicing typing, for creating papers at home, or for learning computer programming. That was it. I didn’t have access to the search capabilities available to students of today. Any research I did for papers or projects had to be done in the field or in the library. Which meant my teachers did not actively used computers for teaching in high school. Computers came to a greater forefront during my college years. Unfortunately, my professors had little inclination to use computers for teaching purposes. Technology was still immature as a teaching tool. Near the end of my undergraduate work, I was finally able to use the vast information available on the internet for educational purposes. My first experience with an online class happened recently. I did not like the impersonal nature of the experience. I was not used to interacting with people in an educational environment without being in a classroom. I feel like I learned more from the readings and tests from the class than the discussion post interaction. Yet, of the two classes I’ve taken so far at Concordia, I can say for sure that I have learned more by being in the classrooms than I would have if the learning was just based on posts and multiple choice tests. So as of right now, yes, technology has improved my learning experience with the increase in the avenues of availability. But I still haven’t seen a direct improvement in my learning experience due to technology beyond me sitting, writing, listening, reading, and doing during class.

My mind has been changed about using technology in the classroom since I’ve read these articles and viewed the video. I understand and recognize my limitations as a technologically literate person. I know I am different type of thinker and processor than the students I will be teaching. And I’m ok with that. I recognize when Prensky writes in Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today’s Learners Demand, “When what is being offered isn’t engaging, these students truly resent their time being wasted” that he is stating that students are applying the cost-benefit relationship of accounting to their lives. We as teachers must understand when students subconsciously ask “Is the benefit I receive from staying engaged in whatever I am doing worth the cost of my time and effort?” And I as a teacher, hope that I can get them to say yes to that question by using technology in the most meaningful and relevant way. Speak to them in their digital language.

Introduction

My name is Troy G. McNeil.

I will be teaching Advanced Math or Basic Math in either a high school or a middle school.

My favorite animal is a beaver because beavers are the school mascot of Oregon State University, where I obtained my Bachelor's degree.

Below are pictures of two different types of beavers. The natural and the awesome beaver.