The Challenge of facing "native speakers" of the digital language

From www.smokingcoolcat.blogspot.com.ar

We think that teachers have to be aware of the challenge that Marc Prensky states as the biggest problem that education has to face nowadays: "Our  digital Immigrants instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language". (If you want to read the article, click here).

It is a challenge because we are identified more with the concept of Digital Immigrants than with that of Digital Natives. We were taught at school using traditional books, diskettes, we listened to cassettes and CD's; whereas today, students are accustomed to using digital technology to learn, such as, computers, mobile phones, tablets, i-pads, e-books, and so on.

Among the characteristics that Prensky gives of Digital Natives are: “those who

From http://noticiascambridgeenglish.org

are used to receiving information really fast; those who like to parallel process and multi-task; they prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite; they prefer games to serious work”. As regards the two last descriptions we partially agree with the author. It is probably certain that they prefer pictures rather than texts but it’s important that we encourage them not only to work with visual aids but also with more demanding activities, such as, reading a text, producing a piece of writing on their own, doing reading comprehension activities so as to make their cognitive system activate and work productively. On the other hand, it is likely that they enjoy more playing games than doing some of the tasks previously mentioned, but our role as teachers is to show them that other kind of activities can be done and that they can be as fun as playing a game! We should also teach them that learning is not only about having fun but also that serious work can be an interesting and pleasurable process which they will find totally rewarding. 

From http://www.thelanguagetrainingco.com/

As regards methodology, Prensky says “it does mean going faster, less step by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things”. We think that this sounds deterministic and consider that applying a methodology with these characteristics will depend on many other factors such as what to teach, students characteristics, group characteristics, social background and so on. Methodology should be contextualized. Apart from this, we ask ourselves what is that helps students to learn? Does going faster help them to learn? Don't we need sometimes going step by step? Do any of these characteristics have a disadvantage?

Welcome!

This blog belongs to Camila Kinen and Maria Laura Fontana. Here we will share activities, ideas, productions, and thoughts in relation to the design of English teaching materials. The aims that guide us are to record our experience, to develop critical thinking or the development of a questioning attitude, to enhance professional development and self-empowerment, to enhance creativity and to foster communication with our classmates and mutual learning. We hope this blog serves us to fulfill these objectives and help others to achieve them.