CAN DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS (EDUCATORS) TEACH DIGITAL NATIVES (STUDENTS)?

With the rise of modern and new technology, digital immigrants may find it hard to adapt to this technology and use it in their teaching as they often assume that students today are the same as the students in the past and whichever method works for those students will work on today’s learner as well. So how can educators as digital immigrants bridge this gap so that learners as digital natives benefit much from their teaching?

Learning preferences of digital natives include teamwork, flexibility in the learning environment, student-based projects that incorporate challenging assignments, and most importantly respect for student voices. Therefore, the only way for digital immigrants to be equipped with the necessary skills to teach digital natives with the use of technology is by learning these skills from the digital natives themselves.

When students get the opportunity to teach their peers and teachers what they know, it will eventually give meaning to their learning. As digital immigrants, it is important for educators to understand and accept the fact that there is a vast divide between digital natives and digital immigrants. Only when such acceptance is present, can we minimize the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants.

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This article was published in FACETS Vol 1 2018

By Soofrina Binte Murbarak, Senior Educational Therapist & Edutech Coordinator