How Bad is Your Accent? Published 2008-03-28 under culture, projects

"PDF's are better than web pages..." exclaimed Marge (name changed to protect the innocent).

I was showing Marge how to use Del.icio.us to compile a list of web resources for a project on which she was working. The idea was to be able to direct people involved in the project to these resources and Del.icio.us provided a central location (single URL).

"So, why are PDF's better than standard web pages?" was my reply.

"They're better for printing out... aren't they?"

Marge's project was about looking at the differences between what Prensky termed "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants". I had to smile. While she was embracing the idea of using technology to compile the list of resources, her "accent" showed. In the past, Marge would print each article, make multiple copies and compile them in binders for others to use. Prensky calls this her digital immigrant accent.

There are hundreds of examples of the digital immigrant accent. They include printing out your email (or having your secretary print it out for you – an even “thicker” accent); needing to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen); and bringing people physically into your office to see an interesting web site (rather than just sending them the URL). I’m sure you can think of one or two examples of your own without much effort. My own favorite example is the “Did you get my email?” phone call. Those of us who are Digital Immigrants can, and should, laugh at ourselves and our “accent.” Prensky, 2001

Within Marge's project, I noticed that the gap in adoption, comfort level, and understanding of the digital world was tagged as a generation gap with the older you are, the more likely you will respond to issues from the digital world with ignorance. Is age really the problem? Superficially, "digital natives" are those born in to this wired world. Thus, someone like me, born in the 60's, could not be a "digital native" while someone like nephew, born in 96, is a native. But who is more connected? Who lives more in the digital world?

My nephew loves sports and with the exception of the occasional sports video game, he would rather be out playing a sport or watching one on TV. He is not texting his friends, updating a facebook profile, or surfing the web on an iPhone. Ok, so I am not doing those things either. But I do live more in the digital world. Whether it is communication (email, blogging, twitter), information (blogs, rss, search), or work (coding, multimedia, remoting), I operate in a world dominated by digital technology.

I am not saying that I am a native nor as an immigrant that I do not have an accent. But to attribute a gap in one's adoption of the digital world to age is too simplistic and as we create programs that address this gap, we will do well not to make assumptions based on one's age.

BTW - I don't print my email, but my accents shows when it comes to IM - I just don't get its appeal.

Tech Tags: digital+native digital+immigrant prensky YouthAndTechnology

Process as a Best Practice Published 2007-08-28 under assessment, projects

Years ago, I was involved in a project that included the compilation of "best practices" by high school U.S. History teachers. The intention was for each teacher to "publish" the best practice and then have other teachers offer comments. Teachers in this project were asked to review other best practices and write (as a comment) how they might adapt the practice to their classroom and the potentially unique needs of their students.

I was involved in the project as a consultant and focused my attention on the information architecture of the best practices and their associated comments. I could not see beyond the capturing, organizing and disseminating of this content. This was before the proliferation of blogging tools and content management systems that would make this task trivial. Regardless whether it was the technical complexities that blinded me, I did a disservice to the project by focusing on the end product.

In hindsight, this project was not about creating an inventory of best practices, but the process of describing your own best practice(s) and reflecting on how to adapt others' practices to meet your needs. The true value of the exercise comes from identifying a practice that you consider good enough to be called a best practice. It requires you to reflect on what you do, what constitutes a best practice and how to best articulate what you do to form a best practice that others can adapt. It also requires you to evaluate a practice that has been labeled as best in relation to how you teach and your classroom needs.

In summary, I got caught up in the "deliverable" and did not see the importance of the process. As teachers, we often fall victim to the lure of the final product. In some cases, it is easier to evaluate the final product than it is to evaluate (or even monitor) the process. If you have ever given a multiple-choice test, you know that grading is a breeze where as gaining insight into how the students obtained their answers is next to impossible.

In other cases, the excitement of seeing the final product overshadows the process that was involved in creating it. I remember a group of students who gave an outstanding presentation on their roller coaster they created for our AP Calculus class. I was so impressed with the presentation and their multi-media materials, that I was blinded to the fact that the group took shortcuts in putting together the project and there was a clear lack of equity in individual contribution resulting in some students getting very little from the project.

I mention all of this as it exposes some thoughts I have for educators.

• Value the process as much as the result
• Identify ways that expose the process
• Get your students to realize the importance of the process