by It’s interesting to read first hand things I’ve been hearing about for years. I’ve heard Marc Prensky’s name frequently mentioned around my house, but this is the first time I’ve actually read him directly. Much of what he wrote in Adopt and Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom, I am familiar with through reading The Thinking Stick blog.
Some of what Marc said though, jumped out at me and struck a chord. He writes at one point:
“But resisting today’s digital technology will be truly lethal to our children’s education.”
I think he is making a strong statement here, but one that I don’t think I can disagree with. I often find myself ‘resisting’ the digital technology and can frequently find the information (and rate of change) entirely overwhelming. When I read this statement that Marc made, I knew I was in trouble:
“Having learned about digital technology later in life, digital immigrants retain their predigital “accents” — such as, thinking that virtual relationships (those that exist only online) are somehow less real or important than face-to-face ones.”
As Clarence Fisher can attest to, when he and Jeff met the first time face to face, I declared him a real friend. It’s since become a joke around our house, but I realize that for me, there is some modicum of truth to the statement. Maybe it’s because I’m a counselor, maybe it’s just who I am, but I value that face to face contact and for me, it’s what I want. I still tease Jeff when he takes his laptop out to the local pub for happy hour and I go out with my friends. But as he has continually explained to me, his friends are with him this way. What I have come to terms with is that though I may not prefer virtual relationships, I recognize that they are something my students value. I don’t have to feel the same way they do to understand and support them in their world.
The Digital Youth Project also emphasized the importance of online relationships in the conclusions and findings of the project. The findings stipulate that just accessing information online won’t quite cut it. One must be a participant in the online world:
“Participation in the digital age means more than being able to access “serious” online information and culture; it also means the ability to participate in social and recreational activities online.”
I guess this could be one of the reasons we’re taking this class and being ‘forced’ to participate online. This is our introduction to the world that our students are engaging in every day. Slowly, but surely, I am adapting and adopting…and truth be known, it is getting easier!
