Marc Pensky wrote in his article, Digital Natives, Digital Imigrants, "Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach." Because this generation has been submerged in technology, their brains have formed differently, they have a different structure than older generations, and they have different thinking patterns. We need to apply a variety of instructional strategies in order to effectively teach them.
As educators, we have had to redesign our approach to teaching. Smaldino describes the new direction in education to be "away from the 'old' pedagogy of teachers 'telling'... to the 'new' pedagogy of kids teaching themselves with teacher’s guidance." In order to accomplish this, we need highly engaging activities that guide the students to discovery of concepts. We need a way to scaffold and differentiate these activities. We need lessons that appeal to our visual, tactile and auditory learners. We need to consider both our left-brain and right-brain learners. We need to consider our students with disabilities; are we meeting their IEP's? And on top of all of this, we need to remember that Lucy and Ricky need to be kept separated because they just broke up and they're emotional wrecks. Wheew...
So, what's the answer? How can I accomplish all this? TECHNOLOGY. I just don't see a better way. My idea of the ideal classroom is where the students work in learning centers, geared to their individual needs. If they need remediation and skill building, they get it. If they are ready to be challenged, they get it. Whether they are playing educational computer games, webquests, online tutorials,or SMARTBoard activites,computer software is an efficient, low-prep way to provide an individualized education experience.
Sources:
Pensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved May 11, 2010 from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Smaldino,S.E.(2008). Instructional Technology and Media for Learning, Ninth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
This video shows the planning that goes into a lesson and how different strategies are required to reach all learners:
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