Generational Differences - Assignment #1

The three readings on Digital Nativism were very thought provoking and voiced some thoughts I have had myself. I disagree that there is a divide between those who would be considered ‘digital natives’ and those who are not. My mom sold Apple computers as one of her first jobs right out of college in the 80’s and she has loved technology ever since. She laments not majoring in some type of technology based job while she was in college. We had one of the newest macs when we were growing up and she was always the person we yelled for when the screen froze. So, I grew up learning technology from my mom, who would not be considered a digital native, but a digital immigrant. As such, I have a lot of respect for people who did not grow up with technology, but jump in full throttle to new technology and work to learn it with joy and interest. I heartily disagree with defining people as digital immigrants or natives based purely on their age. I have seen students who struggle with the technology in schools the same way that adults can struggle. Today’s generation does want to be met on their level to a certain extent, but I think that they can benefit from learning from other generations as well. I worry that our students are losing their love of learning due to the easy access of information. Students are not as willing to explore multiple modes of gathering information, they are instead content to click on the first google link that pops up to answer whatever they need.

Being born in 1989, I am a Millennial and while reading, “Do Generational Differences Matter In Instructional Design?" I found that a lot of the predictions and assumptions that were mad about Millennials, as a group did not apply to me or my friends who are also Millnnials. However, I was slightly offended by some of the assumptions made about digital immigrants in “Digital Natives Digital Immigrants” by Marc Prensky. He completely seemed to discredit the idea that people who are digital immigrants would have nothing new to bring to the table and that they, instead need to adapt to meet the needs of the digital natives. Just as it is with our current political landscape, this struck me as a very black and white way to look at the world. The world is colored in shades of grey and the answer is most always to compromise. We will never grow as a society, or to focus back on education, as a school if the leader is unwilling to compromise. As a principal, you need to appreciate what each staff member and student brings to the table. The staff all brings unique values, skills and opinions to the table. Your challenge, as a leader, is to bring these differing skills and backgrounds together to unite towards a common vision or goal.

The students we teach today are the Sesame Street Generation, and I suppose I am also a little bit of that as well. They expect learning to be fun, interesting and delivered in ten second sound bites. The articles discusses this and terms these students ‘digital natives’. With this, comes amazing innovations in learning and also new challenges. Students no longer need to use a thesaurus or a dictionary, yet these are the “approved tools” that they can use on state testing. There is a distinct need in schools today to reach forward but there is an anchor tying us to past tools and hindering us from being completely free with innovations. As a principal, I think that promoting innovations in a positive way is a really good method to further engaging staff and students towards new technology.

However, with new technology comes different legal and social issues as discussed in standard 5. I think that a really large generational difference that shows now is how we communicate. Students today are more comfortable texting and expressing their feelings over social media than other generations. With social media, comes cyber bullying and a whole host of discipline issues to deal with as a principal. However, there are also more tools available to us to train teachers and to help staff members deal with these issues. So it is not all bad. Social media also allows students to have an outlet and a way to express their feelings on current issues. Students are, I think, more interested in larger social issues than they have been in the past. The question, to me, is how do we channel their interest into action?

In standard 5, the first part discusses equitable access for all learners. When I read this, I think not only of students, but also the adult learners in our buildings. I also see immense value in the fourth bullet that speaks of modeling the use of contemporary communication and collaboration tools. A principal not only needs to be an instructional leader but they also need to be a technological leader. I don’t mean that the principal should be the technology expert, but they should make an effort to engage and learn new technology, and that will encourage their staff to engage as well. As a Principal, it is important to be open to new ideas and to create a culture within the building where teachers feel safe to come to you with new ideas without the fear of being told no at every turn. I believe that teachers, at their core, are innovators and as a leader, it is my job to encourage this and push teachers to continue to innovate and try new things to promote student achievement and college/world readiness.