WebedtecH

Far too many of us have bought into the new chestnut of “digital natives vs. digital immigrants” as educators and administrators. It does follow well with our habit of searching out a label for each face in a classroom; making them something we can count, measure, graph, and put on a PowerPoint slide. Unfortunately this sets up some drastic misunderstandings of the individuals within these groups. I challenge you as educators and administrators to look deeper, gazing into the infinite variety that exists between 0 and 1 on this person-based number line.

To assume the members of a particular generation group posses an innate level of understanding because they are part of that group is stereotyping. We would be shocked and incensed to hear the statement, “Oh, they don’t get technology because they’re old.” How is this any different than, “This should be easy for them, they’re kids after all and you know kids and computers.” It’s a fallacy that must be corrected or at a minimum recognized.

Students come from all backgrounds and levels of understanding. We recognize this when it comes to core curriculum, classroom composition, even school lunch programs so why do we seem to have a blind spot to this when it comes to technology. Is it fair to assume a student will pick up Spanish easily because they can speak English? Of course it isn’t. So why is it fair to assume a student will pick up blogging, video, online collaboration, and multimedia just because they use Facebook?

The only thing separating this generation from generations past is they lack the fear of unfamiliarity for the most part. Their aptitudes are the same, they have similar strengths and weaknesses, and experience the same joys and frustrations as we and our parents did. We must recognize this when working with them as teachers and planning for them as administrators.

There are no digital natives. There are no digital immigrants. There are students in all their infinite, wonderful variety. Peel off the labels and discover what lies within. Recognize they will all learn at their own pace, in their own way, the things that are important to them. No zeroes, no ones, only students.

I’ve been looking for a way to combine the interests of my two core audiences here at WebedtecH.com, the educators and the organizers. So…let’s see what happens when we specifically apply these techniques to students, teachers, and administrators. My darling 15-year old daughter got the ball rolling for me when she sent me a text asking if she could have one of my “little black notebooks.”

Now, as most teenagers do, she carries a cell phone around with her almost all the time. Combined with internet access on the phone and you would thing she would be a perfect candidate for web based solutions she could access while mobile. But here’s the rub. School policy doesn’t allow use of the cell phone during class. I’m not debating the merits of that policy (that’s for another time) but it poses a problem. What is the easiest way to keep things organized when you’re NOT always connected?

I spend a fair amount of time with teenagers and have found (as many of us know already) they can be random thinkers, desiring to fit with others while stretching to show their own identity. Structure can be limiting and limiting means disuse. So what’s the solution?

A plain Moleskine (or inexpensive equivalent) is a great start. They have the freedom to customize the books however they like. They are not bound by forms and templates and can capture what they need to know and how they need to know it. I’m sure there are many who feel without structure the students will be lost and miss valuable information. Ah, but do they have to?

By teaching our students the value of just capturing information rather than getting hung up on the formatting and structure, we curtail the “Hunh? I don’t remember that.” When they ask, “When’s the test again?” you can respond, “Check your book. You did write it down didn’t you?” Some may argue it is coddling the students…I disagree. Far too many professionals in the “real world” can’t handle basic information management and consistent capture is the key starting place for this skill.

It’s not often that a company on the web surprises me. No matter how many promotional efforts are made to say “we care about our customers” or empty promises are issued, they usually wind up disappointing in the end. I can happily say that Ning.com has impressed me. Let me explain…

I posted recently about my concerns regarding using Ning, the social networking platform, in an educational setting due to features such as embedded advertising and links to other Ning sites that cannot be suppressed. I’m not the only one who has voiced these concerns. The response startled me though.

I received an email from a representative of Ning the day after I posted the blog entry.   Phil M. was kind enough to inform me that Ning “happily removes advertising for education networks where the students are in grades 7 – 12.”  The fact they are willing to remove the advertising is less impressive to me than the fact they are watching for comments about their service in the educational space and are willing to go to the effort to ensure their branding is coming across correctly.  Now to be completely honest I was aware of Ning’s willingness to remove the advertising and have had it done on a social space I am already running (but I didn’t know it was public knowledge.)

There is an extensive debate in the education space about the value of social networking for students and schools.  I have my own opinions as does everyone else so I won’t clutter the air with them right now.  But since I do know Ning is listening, I’ll make this recommendation:  integrate collaborative tools such as documents and files through partnerships with companies like Google and Zoho and you’ll have a much more compelling argument for the educational world.

As I said, I’m pleasantly surprised by the response…so keep it up Ning and I see a bright future for you in education.