Digital Green Card

I consider myself to be a digital native. I was raised around electronics and watched (at times even helped) my dad and uncle build a few computers. My brother bought the original Nintendo when it came out, plus many of its successors; coupled with my love of computer games, I have become rather intuitive with technology. I have an odd ability to purchase the newest phone or computer and know, more-or-less, how to work it immediately out of the box. This is a great difference from digital immigrants who prefer "reading the manual for a program rather than assuming that the program itself will teach us to use it" (Prensky, 2001). I find this especially evident with my parents who routinely go to the manual for instruction or use a phone book, rather than using Google for directions.

It is important to realize, and acknowledge, that digital natives are neurologically developing differently. As I have gotten older and technology becomes more prevalent, I have found it more and more difficult to work cooperatively with my dad, who I would consider a digital immigrant. As previously stated, he will often turn to the manual, whereas I simply dump out all the parts and get to work, knowing the general concept. My dad has a habit of giving unnecessarily answers to simple questions, which also drive me nuts. This is, undoubtedly, because I have developed an affinity to "parallel process and multi-task" while my dad performs tasks "slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time, individually" (Prensky, 2001) even though he has done it a thousand times before. I guess this is where the phrase "Old habits die hard" comes from. Anytime I try to get my dad to multi-task, he is always hesitant, but I think he understands the logic behind it. I just have to be the one leading the way because he will get lost.

My personal experiences with technology in the classroom are, I suppose, fairly limited. Aside from the typical Power-point presentation, I have had little else. I am familiar with how to use an overhead projector and the digital projectors in many of the classrooms here at Concordia as well. I have had a small amount of contact with SmartBoards, but only to the extent of effective navigation. In reflection, classes I learned best from were by instructors who used technology properly. For example, I took very little from an anthropology course which was ENTIRELY Power-point, with massive amounts of information on each slide. In contrast, I took a great deal of learning from an instructor who used Power-point to show pictures of ancient cities, coupled with a few bullet points, which he elaborated on. For this reason, I believe it is highly necessary for all instructors to understand how to properly implement technology in the classroom, because it can distract, or even degenerate, a student's learning and/or interest in a topic.

When I use technology in my classroom, I will be certain to use current technology. Seeing "ancient" technologies in a classroom often sets a disposition of boredom in before the teaching has even begun. I know that every time I came to class and an overhead projector was used, I found myself getting distracted more often. I will also be sure that technology is appropriate for what I am teaching that particular day. It is not always effective to use Power points or films in class. I think that many instructors, too often, will use technology as a "scape goat" because they were lazy in their planning for the day's lesson.