down. Then watch how long it takes before the student picks it up again. Sometimes students just
need that tactile security of holding the phone in
their hands. Count how many times they reach for
the phone. Is this a distraction? It can be, but what if
the answer is not taking away their mobile devices?
Is the addiction to the device or to what they are
doing on the device? Prensky also poses that “…if
Digital Immigrant educators really want to reach
Digital Natives – i.e. all their students – they will
have to change.”
By Larry Straining, CPLP
Part-time Instructor
Business & Information Technology
Northeast Campus
In Academic Strategies, we read the article
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky.
Prensky explains that “Our students have changed
radically. Today’s students are no longer the people
our educational system was designed to teach.” The
classroom is a different place; what does this look
like? When I was your age we had to walk up hill,
barefoot, in the snow. Maybe not that extreme, but
in reality acetate slides have been replaced by PowerPoint, film strips are now Ted Talks on YouTube,
and papers are written on computers instead of
typewriters. But even computers are different today
from just a few years ago; tablets and smart phones
are more commonplace than even laptop computers.
I suggest one way we can change is to start
incorporating ways to engage our students with
their mobile devices. Use QR codes to distribute
information electronically. Let students read their
assignments on their device or watch videos on
them. Blackboard has a mobile app, so create activities using Bb discussion boards that students can
complete on their phones. Create a quiz in Google
forms or Survey Monkey which they can take using
their devices. If their focus is on the device in their
hand, put your content on the device.
Smart phones are an addiction; if you don’t
believe me, ask a student to set his or her phone
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