Teaching and Learning with
the Digital Natives
Steve C. Yuen, Ph.D.
Professor
The University of Southern Mississippi
E-mail: Steve.Yuen@usm.edu
and
Patrivan K. Yuen
Technical Services/Systems Librarian
William Carey University
E-mail: pyuen@wmcarey.edu
2008 Creating Futures Through Technology Conference, Biloxi, February 8, 2008

The world is changing
Analog Digital
Tethered Mobile
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consuming Creating
Closed Open
Wiley, D. (2007). Technology and creative teaching. THE Forum.

The world’s rate of change
increases while education’s remain
SLOW
The disconnect brings challenges
for teachers at all levels

Are you TOO MATURE and feel
disconnected with your students
since you’re a digital immigrant?
Most of your students in your
classroom (if not all) are digital
natives.

Your students
There always been MTV
Michael Jackson has always been white
Popcorn has always been cooked in the
microwave
Gas has always been unleaded
They cannot fathom not having a remote
control
They think every commercial on TV has a
Web site at the bottom of the screen
Beloit College Mindset List, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Your students
They have never owned a record player
They have likely never play Pac Man and
have never heard of Pong
They have never heard of an 8 track.
They have grown up with CDs and DVDs.
Most have never seen a TV set with only
13 channels, nor have they seen a black
and white TV
They have always had cable.
Beloit College Mindset List, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Your students
CTRL + ALT + Del is as basic as ABC
The Web has always been an online tool
Virtual reality has always been available
when the real thing failed
They often email or text their friends
They often update their autobiographies on
“Facebook” or “MySpace”
They listen to their iPods while doing their
research on Wikipedia
Beloit College Mindset List, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Digital Shift
“Our students have changed
radically. Today’s students are no
longer the people our educational
system was designed to teach .”
Marc Prensky
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

The Generations
Baby Boomers Gen X Net Gen
(1946-1964) (1965-1980) (1981-1994)
TV Video games The Web
FM Stereo CDs MP3 and DVDs
LP Records Internet Mobile devices
Typewriters Unix/Apple/MS Social networking
Mainframes Email Virtual communities
Courtesy of D. Oblinger

The Digital Natives
‘Digital Natives’ = ‘Net Generation’
= ‘Y Generation’ = ‘Millennials’
= ‘Echo Boomers’ = ‘Boomlets’
Born after 1980
Racially and ethically diverse
Highly connected and technological
savvy
See technology as an essential part of
their lives

The Digital Natives

A Media-Centric Generation
By age 21, the average Net Geners will have
spent:
10,000 hours on cell phones
10,000 hours playing video games
over 20,000 hours watching TV
over 250,000 sending/receiving emails and IMs
watched over 500,000 TV commercials
less than 5,000 hours reading
Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones,
mp3, flickr, Facebook, YouTube are integral parts
of their lives.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

The Digital Natives
Prefer multi-tasking and quick, non-linear access to
information
Are visually-oriented
Are highly networked, interactive, and social
Increasing mobile
Have a low tolerance for lectures
Prefer active learning rather than passive learning
Rely heavily on communications technologies to
access information and to carry out social and
professional interactions.
(Prensky 2001a, 2001b; Oblinger, 2003; Gros, 2003; Frand, 2000)

The Digital Natives
1st generation to be producers of content, not just
consumers
Pick their classes on ratemyprofessor.com or
www.pickaprof.com
Get to know their classmates through
www.facebook.com
Share their lives with others on myspace.com
Share their videos with others on
www.youtube.com
Share their photos with other on flickr.com

A Vision of Students Today

Net Gen Digital Tools
Email, IM, Chat rooms, Cell phones, Blogs,
Webcams, Camera phones, TV, Internet,
mp3, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Wikis, Digital video
cams, Gaming consoles, Digital music, PDAs,
Online gaming, Digital photos, Simulations,
Massive multiplayer games, Online reputation
and rating systems, Virtual worlds,
Multimedia, Smart phones, Moblogs, SMS,
Avatars, File sharing, Streaming media, Tablet
PCs, Virtual communities…

Comfort Zones
Net Gen Students Teachers
Multitasking Single or limited tasks
Pictures, sound, video Text
Random access Linear, logical,
sequential
Interactive and Independent and
networked individual
Engaging Disciplined
Spontaneous Deliberate

Breaking the Division
“Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who
speak an outdated language (that of the pre-
digital age), are struggling to teach a
population that speaks an entirely new
language.”
Marc Prensky
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

Web 1.0 Web 2.0
Student as Consumer Two Way Web
Student as a contributor
Sharing and collaborating

The new Web has opened almost limitless
possibilities for
contributing, collaborating, & connecting
Read/Write Web

Web 2.0 Applications
Podcasts
Wikis
Blogs
Social bookmarking
Multimedia sharing
Virtual world

Web 2.0 in
Education

What is Web 2.0 ?

“ Web 2.0 builds applications that
harness network effects to get
better the more people use them.”
Tim O’ Reilly

The original Web was controlled
and run by a select group of
people who owned Web sites.

Web 2.0 is user-based.

Web 2.0 is run by us.

Learning with the read & write Web.

Blogs open classroom walls.

Blogs motivate students with real
world writing experiences.

Podcast allows students to
experience a wealth of learning
resources on a PC or MP3 player.

Podcast appeals to digital natives.

Students can also create their
own podcasts.

Wiki is an effective tool for group
work.

Students really become content
producers and not just receivers.

Photo
Sharing

Photo
Sharing

Students can search for photos to
help with research and projects.

Educators can upload photos and
videos for classes, school
events…

The Web is evolving to become
more like an area for social and
idea networking.

Anyone can become a life-long
learner.

Great Web 2.0 Tools
for Teaching and Learning
Blogs [Blogger, Wordpress]
Wikis (Wetpaint, Wikispaces)
Podcasting (PodOmatic)
Photo sharing (Flickr, Photobucket)
Video (YouTube, TeacherTube)
Online slideshows (Myplick, SlideShare)
Social bookmarking (del.icio.us, Furl)
Social network (Ning, LinkedIn)
LinkedIn
Thinking tools [Bubbl.us, Gliffy, Zoho]
Gliffy

Podcasts
Vodcasts

Web 2.0 allows digital natives to:
create
contribute
collaborate
connect
share
participate in a learning community

Pay Attention

What Can You Do?
Talk with and observe your students
Get training - stay informed
Move teaching away from conventional methods
by which students are told what to learn, where,
and how
Knowledge should be actively constructed and
students should be made responsible for their own
learning
Utilize real-world applications
Make learning interactive and experiential
Use informal learning opportunities
Integrate technology and their tools of choice
(Web 2.0) into your curriculum

The End
Questions or Comments?
Thank You for Attending Our session!
This presentation is available on the Web at:
http://www.slideshare.net/scyuen/