Digital Era (Assignment)
Digital era describes a current generation consisting of millions who embrace technology as a positive necessity.
Tapscott describes a “new generation who, in profound and fundamental ways learn, work, play, communicate, shop, and create communities” in a manner that has never before been experienced (p. 1). There is a strong emphasis on interactive and customized learning, multimedia, and discovery.
One of the main differences is that learning seems to be most effective when elements of game are incorporated such as goals, rules, conflict, competition, cooperation, time, reward structures, feedback, levels, storytelling, aesthetic, reply or do over, and maintains interest (Kapp, 2012).
An interesting effect of teaching and learning with this population, is that students demand to be an integral part of this process. Prensky (2005) is passionate that educational leaders must “observe the new landscape that’s emerging”. Gone is the rote listen-and-lecture strategy, replaced with playful, interactive multimedia that allows for individualized adaptation. Past pedagogies are not necessarily welcomed in the Digital Era. Additionally, the traditional definitions of teacher and student are being challenged.
Teachers need to shift their role from being information-deliverer to learning facilitator (Tapscott, p. 8-9), making decisions with students instead of without them (Prensky, p. 2). Instructors would be better positioned if they learned more about their student’s interests, considering cookies on the computer often know more about individual likes (p. 5). Student representation is needed in essentially every aspect of education from administration to teaching methods to. Students are expecting to some influence in the learning process, considering they have incredible influence in their gaming spheres.
Digital Era students are different, thus teaching these students must also be different.
References
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.pdf.
Tapscott, D. (2014). Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html
New Generation’s Traits and Entertainment Strategies (Post)
Customized Learning
In this week’s readings, I was particularly captivated by the idea of customize learning, about how the Digital Era is creating countless avenues for learning to be tailor-made for each student. Papert, as quoted by Tapscott, states:
“What I see as the real contribution of digital media to education is a flexibility that could allow every individual to discover their own personal paths to learning. This will make it possible for the dream of every progressive educator to come true: In the learning environment of the future, every learner will be ‘special.’” (Tapscott, 2014).
This philosophy is like unto Universal Design, a philosophy, theory, and practice that argues design for the non-average (people with disabilities) creates better experiences for the average (people without disabilities). The idea of creating, not retrofitting, curriculum for students, including those whom are deaf, blind, have missing limbs, have learning disabilities, or who are on the autism spectrum, strikes a cord so deep within me that this has become my life’s mission and work.
The TEDx talk, The Myth of Average, highlights this idea in an interesting application. L. Todd Rose describes how seats were troublesome for fighter pilots in the American Air Force. While originally designed for the average pilot, research showed that average pilot did not really exist. Air Force researcher, Gilbert Daniels, measured 4,000 pilots based on height, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, legs, reach, torso, neck and thigh. He then asked, “how many of these pilots are average based on these 10 dimensions?”. The answer was none. Not one of the pilots was considered to have the average measurements across all 10 dimensions. The phrase, “ban the average, design for the edges” became mantra for the Air Force when selecting fighter pilots. The rest of the TEDx talk describes how the military handled this situation. They refused to purchase fighter jets that did not have flexible cockpits. By incorporating simple ideas like adjustable seats, the Air Force has simultaneously improved the performance of current pilots, and expanded their talent pool to be the most diverse in this history of American fighter pilots. (Rose, 2013). Applying this concept the educational sector, instilling flexibility into educational tools, strategies, and assignments, will help students to meet learning objectives.
For example, learning to read a second language is a requirement for introductory foreign language courses in higher education. This is a learning objective that is reasonable and anticipated. When one of my blind students, registered for a Thai class, there were dozens of questions about how this student would participate, especially in the requirement that they learn to read Thai. The solution? Produce Thai Braille. One of the ways a blind person reads, is through the tactile consumption of dots and bumps (braille). Creating their textbook in a brailled version incorporates the customized learning, and allows the student to meet the learning objective.
Accept Change, Then Gamification
Change is hard and scary for lots of people. While I loved the passion and ideas that Gabe Zichermann communicated in his TEDx talk, Gamification, I critique that he glossed over, and minimized, one of the fundamental aspects of implementing game elements: that change is hard and does not require we start completely from scratch.
In Zichermann’s short speech, and in Prensky’s Listen to Digital Natives, both authors seems to place strong emphasis that the old ways of doing things are going to suffocate students in the Digital Era. I do agree that this generation is one that is quite different from past, simply because of their access to, and use of, technology from a young age. However, neither author gave credence to what is working. Zichermann and Prensky’s work sounds like they advocate a complete reset of our entire educational system, that we need to erase everything instructors, administrators, and practitioners have learned about learning/teaching. I refuse to believe that every single discovery is antiquated. While norm perhaps needs to change, let us take the good from the past and bring it into the future.
For example, Zichermann says that the world with Sunday afternoon tea, while reading an old book, “is over” (Zichermann, 2011, 15:45). I disagree. This is too reaching and sweeping of a statement. Not all students in the Digital Era love technology the way Zichermann or I do. I will concede that the Sunday afternoon tea, physical-book-reading session may be turned into a Sunday afternoon, Kindle-or-audio-book-reading session. I would argue the tools we use to read have changed, but the act of reading has not.
In order for gamification to spread, we need to help humans accept change without sacrificing the ground that has already been won. This is harder than either Zichermann or Prensky acknowledged.
References
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.pdf.
Rose, L.T. (2017, July 13). The Myth of Average: Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4
Tapscott, D. (2014). Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html
Zichermann, G. (2011, June 09). TEDxKids@Brussels – Gabe Zichermann – Gamification [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2N-5maKZ9Q