Teaching Digital Natives

I watched two videos on technology provided by Edutopia.org, “Digital Youth Portrait: Sam” and “Schools Use of Games for Learning and Assessment”. After viewing both, I realized that if we don’t tap into the technology in this world with our students, TEACHERS may be left behind! Our students are considered digital natives because they have much more technology at their fingertips in their generation. I remember growing up during a time where if you had one of the first computers, a TRS-80 Tandy (Radio Shack) or a Commodore 64C (Apple), you were gifted! These days children have IPODS, Smartphones, laptops/notebooks, and game systems to hold their interests at home and to use for homework.


So what does a techno- dinosaur or digital immigrant that teaches these digital natives use in a classroom to hold their learning interest? Well, according to Roblyer and Doering in the book, Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, teachers should use types of instructional software that include five functions: drill and practice, tutorials, simulation, instructional games, and problem solving. This I agree with. I love the idea of turning on technology in the classroom and seeing students eagerly answer questions and work on projects cooperatively.

There are however some pitfalls that I have encountered with technology in the classroom, specifically computers and the SMART board. Some days after a storm the internet server id down, causing me to change my lesson plan in an instant. Often times the SMART board has to be reset and it may pause a lesson when I have the class at attention. Also, when the students that are less likely to work cooperatively has a “mood-swing” they break rules and log on to websites that are not educational or have nothing to do with what the actual activity requires. With this said, I think that technology use in the classroom is beneficial if used properly and with purpose. Many times I use it to introduce activities and to culminate a unit we have studied. I am curious to hear how other educators teach their digital natives?