Monthly Archives: February 2014

On becoming a ‘digital migrant’

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Who knew in January 2000 that education in the 21st century would render anyone born before 1980 a digital immigrant. Surely, the way we always taught would be sufficient (with a few minor tweaks here and there). Let’s fast forward to 2014 and the realization that we are failing our students if we only tweak.
According to Marc Prensky, who coined the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant” in 2001, “It is amazing to me how in all the hoopla and debate these days about the decline of education in the US we ignore the most fundamental of its causes. Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach”. The bold font is Prensky’s and focuses the reader on his fundamental premise; students can no longer be taught by digital immigrants who are uncomfortable with technology and continue to rely on methods that do not engage students in learning. The idea of students entering the 21st century without the requisite knowledge for navigating their futures, in a world unimagined, never entered educators’ minds. Educators born before the 1980s are falling further and further behind in their knowledge and skill base but cannot figure out how to catch up.
Today’s post is about my personal journey (I am calling it my digital migration) to become more familiar with technology and apps for education.
The first step I took was reading about the topic. Reading articles and research usually helps me understand a topic and most times gives me the necessary ‘push’ to try the new learning in an authentic situation. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked this time. I even read an article that promised to help educators move into the 21st century but all it offered was websites linked to 21st century skills. Really? How is that supposed to help someone who learned how to keypunch and troubleshoot a program using BASIC?
Armed with information, my next attempt to overcome the digital divide was a full day workshop about using Apple apps in education. I was given an iPad for the day and used each app as the presenter instructed. However, I am still too unsure of myself to try using them. More recently, I attended a workshop at the Education 2020 conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE where one presenter spoke about her attempt to become more tech savvy. She cited two examples of technology she has learned to use in her college classroom (with the support of her students); webquest.org and blogging. She told workshop participants that she is moving very slowly, and when she can’t figure something out, she asks her students for help. The presenter spoke about how overwhelmed she still feels every time she tries something new in her classroom. I can certainly empathize with her.
Now I find myself at a Google Summit specializing in apps for education. I plan to use the apps immediately to break the digital divide-no excuses this time!…

References
Prensky, M. (2001). On the Horizon. MCB University Press, 9(5).

Deliberate Practice does not equal Automaticity

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My previous post provided teachers with practical steps to become more reflective. Reflecting on one’s accomplishments and areas for improvement is all well and good, but only half the way to becoming an effective teacher. The other half is deliberate practice-using reflection to change what we do. In fact, the keynote speaker at Education 2020 Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Dr. Linda Price, made an interesting observation about the word reflective. She noted that ‘reflective’ means to ponder or think about one’s actions without necessarily acting on them, but ‘reflexive’ implies using reflection to change what we do. So how can we be more reflexive after reflecting?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, deliberate means, “done consciously and intentionally; fully considered, not impulsive”. In an article entitled, “Deliberate Practice: How to Develop Expertise”, Dr. Richard Jenkins (2012) states, “the best practice demands that the learner be attentive to his or her errors, weaknesses and deficiencies, and consciously work to remedy them”. Dr. Robert Marzano (2012) relates the success of several famous musicians, athletes and businessmen to their perseverance at practicing a specific skill (p. 7) and become more proficient. “Research has shown us time and again that the more we utilize certain neural pathways for building skills – such as throwing a ball or multiplying by fives or recalling all fifty state capitals – the more effectively we ingrain those patterns in our brains.” (Jenkins, 2012) Jenkins has a point, but we must be careful not to associate expertise with ‘automaticity’ of the skill (Marzano, 2012, p. 7). I disagree with Jenkins about the skill becoming automatic. In education, the art of deliberate practice is not in making the skill automatic, instead we must always be mindful of the action; we must think about our thinking related to our increasing expertise in a skill. In fact, monitoring all students in the classroom requires a deliberate mindset. Once we begin to do things automatically, we are less likely to pay attention to what is going on around us. For example, have you ever gone through a traffic light and then wondered if it was green? Once a behavior is automatic, it is easier for our mind to wander.
Being mindful and deliberate about classroom practice allows teachers to continue growing and learning; even master teachers. The bottom line is – teachers must be reflexive – focus on student needs and plan/practice deliberately; the most effective way to increase their students’ achievement.
Do you reflect and act, or reflect and intend to act? Feedback welcome!