Educators, Digital Learners and New Technologies in the 21st Century

 This week a good deal of thought went into learning what the millennial or digital learners want to be taught and how.  Some common threads appeared in the writings about this new generation, about to enter colleges in the United States and worldwide in a few years.   They are very bright and multi-task like no other generation.  They are highly skilled at using internet technologies, especially social media, e.g., Face book, You Tube, My space, cell phones and any digital media that connects them to other humans in the U.S. and globally.  Their attention span is considerably shorter than other generations and they spend far less time reading from text books or books in general.  They have grown up with digital technologies and resent “powering down” from their computers and cell phones in order to attend class.  They are more self-confident and less likely to be as committed to their places of employment.  In their own words, they lack the morality and ethics of the older digital immigrants or their instructors.

Okay, we ask what does this have to do with the way they’re being taught in the classrooms of today.  I have sat in a class that was needed for a state certification for 3 hours, two nights a week for one month a few months ago.  About eighty-five percent of the learning was done using power points that were dry, colorless and tremendously boring.  Ten percent of the time was used in lecturing format.  Five percent was acting out different scenarios.  Questions were discouraged, unless asked directly by the instructors.  By the time the class was over, I was indeed enraged.  I can relate to how my grandchildren 17 and 18 must feel in this type of classroom.  As educators and future educators, we must listen when they tell us, “engage us or enrage us.” 

Last week we were asked to do a team motivated presentation in Creative Commons.   Once again, I felt the old anger coming on.  It lacked color, music and the very inventive qualities digital learners are telling educators they want to engage in.  If you want to leave them behind in our classrooms, continue using lecture, power point and a lack of digital creativity in your classes.   A large portion of digital learner’s day is spent texting, listening to iPods’ and socializing using digital media.  If we cannot reach them maybe it is time to change the way educators teach, the design of the classroom and by reading what our futurists are telling us will be new technologies in just five years.  

We were asked to participate in a Voice Thread this week.  I was thrilled to use this technology and began to think of ways it could be used in a classroom.  I read as much material as I could get my hands on regarding the ways this technology can be used in the classroom be it online or not.  It was exciting and fun.  It allowed one to really think about the response asked for by the instructor.  While it was still based on a power point concept and used with a bit of a lecture, it gave me the ability to use a new technology and take time to think, really think about the topic.  This seemed to be a step in the right direction, as was Creative Commons, Wiki and Diigo.  I am anxiously waiting for more information on these fun innovations, and I’m a bit sad the quarter is moving so fast.