Digital Immigrants Living in a Digital Native World

Those of us who are digital immigrants, who did not grow up in the age of computers, iPods, and video games, feel as if we are living in a foreign culture when surrounded by the digital natives and all of the technology with which they were raised. In a very real sense, we ARE living in a foreign culture. The digital natives think differently than the digital immigrants. Their minds are moving faster and they become bored more quickly. Digital immigrants need to think like digital natives. Technology in school back in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, or even the early 90s looked much different than it does today. When I was in school in the 1960s and 70s, technology was a reel-to-reel film being shown in class. Or we had the filmstrip that was accompanied by a record that played music and narrated the filmstrip. Overhead projectors were my day's equivalent of a SMART board. Teachers also used slide projectors, and then there was the chalkboard. Most of these technologies have gone the way of the ink wells and as teachers, we must adapt. Teachers today need to use SMART boards in order to teach interactively, to insert videos or create learning games. Computers can be used to allow students to play education games in order to learn. All of the technology that is being used by students today can be integrated into learning. Asking students for their help with technology will not show immigrant teachers to be unknowledgeable, but will provide a collaborative environment where the students can help solve problems and feel good about bringing their expertise into the classroom.  As immigrants, we just have to figure out how to make it work.  It will not be easy for us and it will take time and creativity, but it is possible to bring the teaching profession into the 21st century.