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Digital Natives vs. DigitalImmigrants: Exploring the

Intergenerational Digital DivideHelen Mongan-Rallis, UMD

Presentation to the Northland CareerDevelopment Professionals Association

November 15, 2007

Image source: http://mindblob.typepad.com/mindblob/2006/07/index.html

Overview

Examine different attitudes towards anduses of technology across generations

Explore ways in which people canunderstand each otherand work together intoday's technologicallydiverse society.

http://www.local-level.org.uk/

Quiz!!

How many of you remember…How many of you know how to…How many of you have..

www.etsy.comwww.cs.umass.edu

www.lowetechphones.com

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What Students Have to Say..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=related

What do you think?

What are your reactions to this video?Is this an accurate depiction of students

and higher education today?Do you think students would think so?

Digital Natives & Immigrants

Analogy of native speakers andimmigrants

Illustrates the generation gap betweentoday’s students (millennials) and theirteachers

(Prensky, 2001)Image source: http://mindblob.typepad.com/mindblob/2006/07/index.html

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Digital Natives & Immigrants

“..their online life is a whole lot bigger than just theInternet. This online life has become an entirestrategy for how to live, survive and thrive in the 21st

century, where cyberspace is a part of everyday life.”(Prensky, 2004: 2)

Both immigrants and natives may use the sametechnology, but the two groups do these activitiesdifferently this leads to dissonance and adisconnect between the two groups.

Natives are creating their own way of doing things,often without the awareness of immigrants.

[Prensky, 2004]

The Natives - aka Millennials

Birth years 1981-2000

Current age: 8 to 26

[Image source: http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/elearning/images/elearning2.jpg]

Seven Traits (Howe andStrauss )

SpecialShelteredConfidentTeam-OrientedAchievingPressuredConventional(Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2003). Millennials Go to College:

Strategies for a New Generation on Campus)

www.centuryuniversity.edu/application.html

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Areas of Change

Communication (email, instantmessaging, chat, cell phone, socialnetworking, discussion boards &groups, blogs, VOIP)

Sharing (blogs, webcams, cameraphones, photo sharing sites)

Buying & selling (eBay, buying exams& term papers online, finding a job, auniversity, an online course, a mate)

Areas of Change (continued)Exchanging (music, movies, humor)Creating (gaming with avatars, modding)Meeting (3D chat rooms, dating, wikis, live

meetings e.g. www.meetup .com)Collecting (mp3, video)Coordinating (projects, workgroups,

MMORPGs = Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Games)

Evaluation (online - offaculty, companies, users)

http://studycurve.com/

Areas of Change (continued)

Gaming (computer, video, online gamingwith vast numbers of participants

Learning (online research to learn abouttopics of interest to them)

Searching (information, products, people,connections, phone numbers, maps, images)

Analyzing (volunteering to be part ofmassive projects analyzing data e.g. SETI –Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

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Areas of Change (continued)

Reporting (blogs, photo sharing, video, moblogging(mobile-blogging)

Programming (for computers e.g. Flash.) Sharefreely.

Socializing (online social behavior with groupnorms)

Evolving (creating new behaviors to facilitate theirlives)

Growing up (exploring, transgressing, testing limits)

Expectations of Millennials Secure, regulated environment To have FERPA regulations followed Customer service - demand resolution of concerns Development of services/amenities around their needs Structure & regular feedback (will mistake silence for

disapproval) Information to be provided in timely, efficient way

(24/7) A’s (but are willing to work hard for these) High but also fair standards Communication to be a 2-way process (will expect to

receive & to be able to give feedback & suggestions)

Expectations (continued)

Consideration their outside work & extra-curricularactivities

To be able to work in teams, following group ethic,not be singled out

To be allowed to multi-task & to learn & performmultiple tasks at the same time

To be taught & to learn using technology (&technology is not PowerPoint)

Scaffolding of experiences to develop self-responsibility

Service, action oriented to learning

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Learning Preferences Teamwork Technology Structure Entertainment & excitement Experiential activities Flexibility in the learning environment A learning environment focused on goals Challenging assignments Learning new knowledge and skills Respect for ideas and input

[Image source: http://it.imagine.com/communications-immagini-photos/photodisc-pdil025

Seek to Understand

“…as teachers we must understandstudents. Understand upcominggenerations and honor their historywhile honoring what we believe aseducators. It might not be easy, but it'scertainly worth the effort.”(Kathleen Phalen (2002). Teaching in a Millennial World.)

More on seeking tounderstand

Understanding learners in depth isessential to creating learningenvironments that optimizelearners' strengths and minimizetheir weaknesses.

(Oblinger & Oblinger 2005)

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What’s The Matter WithToday’s Kids?

Avoid falling into the trap of deciding that theways in which today’s students are different fromthose who came before them make them somehowless intelligent or less sincere as students than inthe Good Old Days…

It works better if we try to understand whotoday’s students are and why they are what theyare, instead of wishing they were different.

Therefore, the answer to “What’s the matterwith kids today?” is “Nothing. They are who theyare.”

(Nancy Truesdell, Dean of students, Lawrence University)

Key Points About Learning

Millennials need to learn:With technologyWith each otherOnlineIn their timeIn their placeDoing things that matter

[From: Slippery Rock Freshman Survey and Millennial Students]

[Image source: http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/elearning/images/elearning2.jpg]

Video Resources

60 Minutes:The Millennials Are Coming!Information Revolution:A Vision of Students TodayEducation Today and Tomorrow

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References Oblinger, D. & Oblinger, J. (2005). Educating the net generation. Educause.

Retrieved April 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen/ Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2003). Millennials Go to College: Strategies for a New

Generation on Campus. Washington, DC: AACRAO and LifeCourse Associates. Phalen, K. (2002). Teaching in a Millennial World. virginia.edu, Volume VI,

Number 2, Fall 2002. Retrieved November 2, 2007 fromhttp://www.itc.virginia.edu/virginia.edu/fall02/teach/home.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. NCBUniversity Press, 9 (5), October 2001. Retrieved April, 2007 fromhttp://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

Prensky, M. (2004). The emerging online life of the digital native: What they dodifferently because of technology, and how they do it . Retrieved April, 2007from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

Slippery Rock (n.d.) Freshman Survey and Millennial Students. Slippery RockUniversity of Pennsylvania. Retrieved April, 2007 fromhttp://www.sru.edu/pages/8927.asp

Truesdell, N. (2007). Why can't they be like we were — perfect in every way?Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007 fromhttp://www.lawrence.edu/news/pubs/lt/spring07/millennials.shtml