Webinar: Teaching and Learning with Digital Natives"

Ed 742 Christine Williams

Webinar

I was unable to attend the lecture at Touro in February, so this is the webinar I viewed as a make up assignment. I found this Webinar on PBS Teachers. It was presented on Elluminate. The name of the Webinar is "Teaching and Learning with Digital Natives." The following blurb is quoted directly from the site:

John Palfrey, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, discusses his new book, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. The discussion focuses on how this population interacts with information, institutions and each other in new ways. Participants also learn about the need for educators to become familiar with the technologies of digital natives and use these technologies to compliment their pedagogy.

The hour long Webinar, hosted by Jenny Bradbury (PBS Teachers) and Steve Hargadon (Classroom 2.0), aired on February 26, 2009. John Palfrey was interviewed about his book, which he co-authored with Urs Gasser. The webinar opened with Palfrey explaining why Born Digital was written and the way in which the research was done. They wrote the book to present the best research on how young people use technology and to "bring to light" the best practices and uses of technology in regards to young people. The book is intended for both parents and teachers. The authors also wanted to debunk some of the myths regarding technology and youth. The authors researched their subject in two ways. Firstly they looked at what other researchers had already done in this area, both qualitatively and quantitatively. These studies came from the PEW, Oxford University, and American Life Group among many others. The authors also performed a comprehensive literature review. Palfrey called their research "building on the shoulders of giants." They also conducted their own research, primarily focus groups and interviews, using a qualitative approach. They started with surveys, which led to focus groups. The focus groups led to having some in-depth interviews with some of the participants. The research was held all over the world: the US, Europe, the Gulf region (Bahrain), and Asia (China, Korea, and Japan).

The talk was then interrupted by an audience poll, posing the question "How native are you?" The results of the six questions posed are presented below:

1. Do you write or post original text online, using blogs, wikis, twitter, or other publishing tool? YES 45%

2. Do you create and post images, video, audio, or other forms of multimedia online? YES 56%

3. Do you belong to a social network? YES 52%

4. Do you participate in virtual worlds? YES 10%

5. Do you play online games? YES 26%

6. Have you searched for yourself on Google, pipl, etc.? YES 75%

Palfrey was asked to define what a digital native is. He replied a digital native was defined as typically someone born after 1980 when the social digital technologies came online (Palfrey himself was born in 1972). Digital natives all have access to networked digital technologies and have the skills to use them. This led to the debunking of the first myth.

Myth I: Digital Natives are a generation.

Palfrey called this an "overstatement." He pointed out that out of six billion people, only one billion have access. He stated further that this could be broken down along socio-economical lines, with the more affluent people having better access. He claimed that some older people (non natives) use technology just as well as the natives. He called them "digital settlers." Apparently it is more a state of mind than a group of young people.

Myth II: Digital Natives are more endangered.

Of course, Palfrey stated there are some safety issues, so it is partly true. He continued to say that young people need guidance from teachers and parents so they can learn how to navigate the digital world. Like in the "good old days" it is still difficult for young people to make good decisions without proper training. Young people need to be taught how to manage their personal information, especially online. Palfrey said that the adults should approach the issue by having "a combination of common sense and online experience is key." Interestingly enough, the biggest fears people have -- sexual predators and access to porn online-- are still a concern, but not more so than they were prior to the Internet. Palfrey went on to explain that he had chaired a nationwide taskforce checking on the dangers of technology. One thing they discovered was that from 1990 to the present day the chances of someone becoming a victim of a sexual predator are going down. Palfrey believes this may be due to the fact that the victims and the predators are meeting online and not in public where abuse could take place. He did warn that chat rooms and instant messaging were the places young people might hook up with predators. As far as online porn was concerned, he commented that young people certainly had the ability to do so, but apparently they weren't tapping into it as believed. Palfrey said there is a need for better filters for home computers, but he also noted that some people feel such filters are pointless at schools. Palfrey mentioned cyber bullying as a rising problem due to all the psychological damage that can be done to someone and that it needs to be addressed. However, he wished to discuss this further later on in the interview in myth four.

The discussion then turned to copywrite laws and all the regulations surrounding them. Palfrey believes these laws, rules, and regulations need to evolve with the times. It is becoming harder and harder to determine what is fair use and what is pirating or plagiarism. Palfrey stated that the researchers were unable to debunk the belief that artists are being ripped off by illegal downloads. Palfrey believes that a person's work and ideas should be protected, but as technology grows, our rules need to grow with it.

Myth III: Digital Natives are less intelligent and less informed.

Palfrey started the discussion on myth three as follows:

"Our children find information in digital formats and are processing it in ways that those who came before them could only have imagined. The information is sometimes surrounded by far less context than in the past, while at other times, it surrounded by more. Our challenge is to help them make sense of these new contexts and new meanings, and to think synthetically and critically, rather than letting them lose their way."

Ironically, Palfrey noted, that at the same time Born Digital was coming out, another book also was published claiming that the current generation was the stupidest ever. Palfrey called this debate a "cultural war [that is] emerging regarding technology's influence on the latest generation." One complaint that many teachers have is students cutting and pasting documents from sites like Wikipedia and creating a report out of it. The researchers asked students how they would conduct research. All of them said they would Google the subject (the researchers used the Spanish American War or Lou Gehrig's disease as hypothetical subjects) and see where it took them. What the researchers found was that the "least sophisticated" students would just cut and paste which typically resulted in a low grade. The savvier students were more careful. They used other sources to see if the first source was correct. Palfrey would like to see teachers redirect students when it appears technology is interfering with learning. He suggested teachers should also require students cite from books, etc. when doing research. Palfrey stated that tech users need to know when it's okay to go surfing for quick information and when technology actually harms learning. One interesting side note: Palfrey mentioned that some neuroscientists now believe the brain is being rewired to cope with the digital world.

Myth IV: Digital Natives are more prone to bullying and anti-social behavior.

Palfrey said that the key to proving whether this is a myth or not lies in the definition of bullying. He posed the question: how do we tell the difference between true bullying and teasing? One problem, he noted, is that people will write in cyberspace things they would never say in person. He believes young people aren't any meaner than any other generation has been, but the problem comes about because cyber bullying spreads rapidly to a huge audience. The nasty comments also stick around much longer than angry words said at school, making it difficult to get rid of. This makes it very easy to hurt someone badly. Palfrey was asked if this group engages itself differently. He commented that they like their digital social life and can become quite upset if they are separated from their technology for too long.

The discussion between Palfrey and the moderators ended at this point. Participants then were able to send questions for Palfrey to answer. At the end of the program, it was mentioned that Born Digital is part of a larger study and more information can be accessed at the following sites:

http://www.digitalnative.org/wiki/Main Page

http://blog.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives

and

http://www.digitalnative.org#video

I truly enjoyed the discussion. I had thought it would be dreadfully dull and boring, but I was pleasantly surprised. I am now interested in reading more of Palfrey's writings.