Vol 3 Test 3 Part 4

Section Four

You will hear a talk about the effects of our digital world on young people. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40 on pages seven and eight. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

In this lecture series, we are looking at changes occurring due to the rapid spread of digital technology in the last decades of the twentieth century. By digital technology, this includes any computer-related devices such as email, the internet, cell phones, and instant messaging, to name but a few.

Today’s lecture focuses on the ideas of Marc Prensky and what he believes are the major effects that high exposure to digital technology has had on young people today. Firstly, what exactly does Prensky believe?

He argues that because today’s young people have been born into a digital world and spend hours simply playing with technology, they have changed in fundamental ways. He believes they are evolving differently and, as a result, process information differently from previous generations. It is even possible that these young people’s brains have physically changed, although whether this is literally true is not yet known, nor does Prensky go quite this far.

Prensky divides people into digital natives and digital immigrants. Today’s young people are the digital natives. They belong in this new digital age because they were born into it and grew up as native speakers of the digital language of computer technology. Digital immigrants, on the other hand, are those born in the generations before the digital age.

Just as those who learn a second language often retain their foreign accent, digital immigrants are usually, to varying degrees, not quite as effective at speaking the digital language as the natives are. For example, they may feel more comfortable finding phone numbers using a phonebook or looking up information in an encyclopedia rather than using the internet as a primary source of information. Prensky calls this the digital accent.

Another example of the digital accent is scanning a manual for a computer program rather than assuming the program itself will teach you how to use it. Basically, people with a digital accent have never really stopped relying on their original non-digital means of sourcing information. They prefer doing things as they have always done them, without typing something into a computer.

Prensky predicts that, due to all this, major changes are in store, particularly in the area of education. But what do other educators and theorists believe?

Samuel James from Sydney University agrees with Prensky’s predictions. He believes that educators are no longer successful in the way they teach. However, not surprisingly, Prensky has been criticized by more traditional theorists such as Peter Vander and Thomas Allen, who disagree with many of Prensky’s assertions.

Vander argues that a typical classroom is more varied than Prensky believes, with students coming from a range of backgrounds. He maintains that a large percentage of these students are not necessarily proficient with technology and that not all students today fit one single stereotype. Allen adds that even though most students today have easy access to technology, some simply do not find the digital medium appealing.

James disagrees. He believes that all today’s students share the same basic interest in and knowledge of digital technology. However, James also believes that younger students can communicate effectively with their digital immigrant teachers and can still learn using methods that have proven successful in the past.

Allen takes these ideas a step further by recognizing that both digital immigrants and digital natives have to deal with vast amounts of information in today’s electronic society. He maintains that while most young students are proficient in playing computer games and using the web in fairly basic ways, they are not accustomed to using computers at advanced levels, such as conducting complex information searches, which are essential for university study today.

Irrespective of Allen’s research, James believes it is possible for computer games to play a major role in making classroom learning more stimulating, and he cites many instances where this could already be achieved today. However, Vander asserts that rather than focusing on developing games, we should think of better ways to assist teachers, because no computer program comes close to doing what a human teacher does every day.

That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers.