DL5013 The Digital Learner

Slide 1 DL 5013 The Digital Learner DL 5013 The Digital Learner

Module 1: How Todays Students
Module 1: Learn
How Todays Students Learn
Part 1: Assumptions About Digital
Learners

Welcome to The Digital Learner. Im Dr.

Catherine Dutton, and I will serve as
one of your guides in this class. Ill be
accompanied by two of my colleagues,
Dr. Lillian Chenoweth, department chair
of Digital Learning and Teaching, and
Cali, one of todays digital learners.

In each module of this course, you will

have the opportunity to see sections of
a conversation between Dr. Chenoweth
and Cali as they discuss Calis
experiences in school, Web 2.0 tools
that she enjoys using, and how she
uses the tools in her classes. Cali truly
brings us the perspective of a digital
learner, the focus of this course.

Slide 2 Characteristics of Digital Learners What characteristics come to mind

when I say digital learner?
Digitally literate
Things that I think of include:
Connected Digitally literate
Immediate Connected
Experiential
Social and interactive
Immediate
Collaborative Experiential
Socially conscious Social and interactive
Collaborative and
Socially conscious
DL5013 The Digital Learner

Slide 3 Assumptions Teachers make a lot of assumptions

Use many types of digital technologies extensively
Exposure to technology = sophisticated user
Technology changes learning approaches
We need to change the way we teach to connect with
them.
about their digital learners. Some of
these assumptions are that:
Students use many types of digital
technologies extensively.
Students exposure to these
technologies makes them more
sophisticated users.
The use of these technologies changes
learning approaches - and it might even
change the brain!
And a final assumption might be that
we need to change the way we teach.

Slide 4 Research on Digital Learners But what does research tell us about
these assumptions?
Amount and type of technology usage depends on a
persons toolkit.
Use of technology does not automatically equate to
sophisticated usage.
First, our students do use technology.
Digital natives and digital immigrants think differently
about technology. (Prensky)
However, the depth and type of usage
Technology provides:
new approaches to teaching.
depends a lot on their toolkit or whats
new opportunities for learning. available to them. Many of our students
use cell phones, e-mail and Facebook,
or whatever the in social media is
currently.

This takes us to assumption #2 - that

the use of technology inherently makes
our students sophisticated users. This
isnt true! Heres the truth: Our students
tend to use whats readily available,
familiar, and practical. Theyre not
buying expensive software; theyre
using whats available on the Web.
Theyre not born computer geniuses.
They dont all know how to disassemble
a computer. However, if you asked
them to, theyd probably be willing to
Google it and try! Theyre much less
afraid of breaking things! Theyre
incredibly resourceful with the skills and
resources they have. They know what
they know, but they may not know
everything we think they know. What do
I mean by that?

Recently, a study was done of

undergraduate students at a public
institution in Texas. Many of these
students acknowledged that they were
DL5013 The Digital Learner

fluent in Facebook and their

phonesbut they admitted that they
didnt know the ins and outs of Word,
Excel, or even PowerPoint like their
teachers assumed they did. This
doesnt mean they werent tech-savvy.
They just werent the type of users that
faculty assumed they were!

The next assumption - that

technologies change learning
approachesand maybe even the
brain - is addressed in your readings
this week. Mark Prensky makes an
interesting, yet controversial,
classification of digital users. He says
that some people are digital natives
and others are digital immigrants.
Digital natives grew up with technology,
and digital immigrants are learning how
to integrate technology into their lives.

Technology provides new ways for us

to approach teaching and opens new
doors to our students to use tools that
previously werent available. And,
because our world is changing and
integrating these technologies into our
daily lives, thats impacting how we
need to interact with each other and
how we need to make sure our
students learn.