Lesson 4 - Understanding the Learners

5. Digital Natives

Another factor that makes students somewhat different today is their immersion in and facility with digital technology, and in particular social media: instant messaging, Twitter, video games, Facebook, and a whole host of applications that run on a variety of mobile devices such as iPads and mobile phones. Such students are constantly ‘on’. Most students come to university or college immersed in social media, and much of their life evolves around such media. Some commentators such as Mark Prensky (2001) argue that digital natives think and learn fundamentally different as a result of their immersion in digital media.

Many instructors too often see such technology as a distraction. Attentive listening is impossible if students are scrolling through videos or Facebook pages. Many instructors would like to ban all mobile phones and tablets from their classes. However, a ban on mobile phones is an attempt to deny the reality of living in a digital age. We should be educating our students in the appropriate use of everyday technology for learning and social purposes, not trying to deny the existence of the technology. 

Instead we should be encouraging students to use their technological devices to find, analyze, evaluate, and apply their knowledge. This means giving them engaging tasks in class time that require the use of their phones. Yes, they will probably use their device to text other students but then that can be also used for group work and social learning. In particular, mobile phones can be used to support the learning of higher-level skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking.

But this means providing criteria and procedures for students that enable their learning and also learning when they need to put their phones down and switch off. These are skills and knowledge that are essential for life in today’s society and it is irresponsible for the education system to ignore such needs. Students expect to use social media in all other aspects of their life.