The Digital Native

The current model of teaching students using a standardised system with a single suite of software on a desktop computer is no longer justifiable. The "digital native" has access to an array of technology on various platforms, which are rarely allowed within school gates despite their relevancy and educational potential.

Network lock-downs and zealous firewalls in schools also widen the chasm between the classroom and reality. Is this condemning a generation to be purely consumers of technology rather than creators?

Talk given at Update Conference 2011 http://lanyrd.com/2011/updateconf/sggxw/

Transcript

1. e Digital Native
   @anna_debenham
   photo: http://goo.gl/zJMiW
   

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2. —2001, Marc Prensky Digital
   Natives, Digital Immigrants
   “Today’s students
   are no longer the
   people our
   educational system
   was designed to
   teach”
   

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3. —2011, Older Students’ use of Digital Technologies in Distance Education.
   photo: nicoleabalde http://goo.gl/QUKPG
   “In short, students who more readily use
   technology for their studies are more likely than
   others to be deeply engaged with their work.”
   

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4. —2001, Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
   photo: nicoleabalde http://goo.gl/QUKPG
   “Digital Immigrants don’t believe their students can
   learn successfully while watching TV or listening to
   music, because they (the Immigrants) can’t.”
   

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5. —2007, NASUWT
   general secretary
   Chris Keates
   “e time has come
   for mobiles in
   schools to be placed
   in the category of a
   potentially
   offensive
   weapon”
   

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8. http://goo.gl/Xu2EQ
   

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10. —Draft Education Bill (Part 2, 6E) http://goo.gl/54tEX
    photo: nolifebeforecoffee http://goo.gl/15b2L
    “e person who seized the item may
    examine any data or files on the
    device, if the person thinks there is a
    good reason to do so.”
    

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11. —Draft Education Bill (Part 2, 6F) http://goo.gl/54tEX
    photo: nolifebeforecoffee http://goo.gl/15b2L
    “…if the person has decided to return the
    item to its owner, retain it or dispose of
    it, the person may erase any data or files
    from the device if the person thinks
    there is a good reason to do so.”
    

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13. photo: chaparral http://goo.gl/8jnAj
    

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14. photo: hockadilly http://goo.gl/BzCrc
    

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15. photo: sidelong http://goo.gl/ksXZI
    

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16. “e SchoolBooks were the
    snitchiest technology of them
    all, logging every keystroke,
    watching all the network
    traffic for suspicious
    keywords, counting every
    click, keeping track of every
    fleeting thought you put out
    over the net.”
    —Excerpt from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
    photo: MrPessimist http://goo.gl/1py4o
    

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17. Always Monitoring,
    Always Protecting,
    Always Teaching
    —RM Tutor software tagline
    photo: nolifebeforecoffee http://goo.gl/15b2L
    

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18. —Atul Varma http://goo.gl/cwvQg
    photo: nolifebeforecoffee http://goo.gl/15b2L
    “Even more distressing was that we couldn’t
    even show kids the power of View Source,
    because that feature was actually disabled
    on the library’s computers.”
    

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19. “Amongst the
    young,
    IT anarchy
    rules.”
    —e Future of ICT in Schools http://goo.gl/uRbbF
    photo: judybaxter http://goo.gl/BKiFZ
    

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21. “I was flabbergasted to
    learn that today
    computer science isn’t
    even taught as
    standard in UK
    schools.”
    —Eric Schmidt http://goo.gl/BfDxF
    Photo: Vincent Sobotka http://goo.gl/G2i8j
    

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22. “Your IT curriculum
    focuses on teaching how
    to use software, but gives
    no insight into how it’s
    made. at is just
    throwing away your great
    computing heritage.”
    —Eric Schmidt http://goo.gl/BfDxF
    Photo: Vincent Sobotka http://goo.gl/G2i8j
    

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23. —e Royal Society http://goo.gl/kJlRX
    

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24. –
    GCSE ICT ‑ 57% in 5 years
    —e Royal Society http://goo.gl/kJlRX
    

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25. Michael Gove,
    Education Secretary
    

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26. —Andy Burnham, MP
    “By valuing Latin
    over ICT in his
    English
    Baccalaureate he
    shows just how
    out of touch he
    really is.”
    

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27. — http://goo.gl/GSSF
    

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28. — 2009, Exemplar Coursework Project http://goo.gl/PGm4b (PDF 1.8MB)
    

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29. “Computer Literate”
    photo: lrargerich http://goo.gl/h5L4a
    

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30. “Kids think that the Internet and the
    WWW are the same thing (owned by
    Microsoft) and tell me that when they
    can not find what they are searching for
    on Google, that the internet is not
    working”
    —ICT Teacher in the TES forum http://goo.gl/dqvwc
    photo: lrargerich http://goo.gl/h5L4a
    

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31. 1 Millon UK
    Children lack
    computer
    access at
    home,
    2 Million lack
    Internet
    access
    — 2010 BBC article http://goo.gl/IIb59
    photo: machado17 http://goo.gl/hqVKY
    

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32. Home Access Scheme
    Scrapped
    photo: Svadilfari http://goo.gl/ZMxrB
    

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33. City Learning Centres
    Shut Down
    photo: Svadilfari http://goo.gl/ZMxrB
    

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34. “the ICT curriculum is contracting - the
    likelihood of more girls going forward into
    the industry is now less likely to happen”
    —ICT teacher
    photo: Svadilfari http://goo.gl/ZMxrB
    

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35. “Play with it.
    You can’t break it”
    —Aral Balkan’s Dad
    photo: splorp http://goo.gl/rQes9
    

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36. Photo: http://goo.gl/jVEyW
    

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37. Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/
    

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38. Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu
    

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39. Hackasaurus http://hackasaurus.org
    

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40. Want to help?
    

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41. Register as a
    STEM ambassador
    or write to your old
    school and
    offer to give a talk
    about what
    you do.
    

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42. Visit the TES’s ICT
    teacher forum and
    give advice.
    

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43. Help make open
    source projects like
    Hackasaurus
    better
    

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44. If you have
    school-aged kids:
    Find out what
    monitoring
    devices the school uses
    and question it if you
    think it’s unreasonable.
    

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45. If you have
    school-aged kids:
    Find out what
    software
    students are using, and
    suggest alternatives
    where appropriate
    

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46. Write to your
    MP and the
    Education
    Secretary
    

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47. tnk u
    @anna_debenham
    photo: nowhere77 http://goo.gl/zJMiW
    

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