Teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to Today’s Digital Natives Edward M. Reeve, Ph.D Utah State University Interim Vice Provost for International Education Professor, Department of Engineering & Technology Education (ETE) ed.reeve@usu.edu

Introduction What can STEM teachers do? According to the National Science Board's report "Science and Engineering Indicators 2006," American students perform among the lowest internationally in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Some observers say schools do not adequately prepare students for careers in these fields, resulting in a significant lack of student interest. What can STEM teachers do?

What can STEM teachers do? 1. Learn about the characteristics of today’s Digital Natives. 2. Learn about the technology used by today’s Digital Natives. 3. Develop curricula that engages Digital Natives.

Introduction Today’s students are digital natives – they have grown up with digital technology! They are the generation!

Introduction Most of today’s Digital Natives are technologically literate when it comes to using digital devices. A two year old Digital Native can operate the TV VCR remote control and a 7 year old knows how to text message on a cell phone.

Introduction Digital Natives come to school with their backpacks, as well as their own laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players.

Today’s Digital Natives Learn Differently Introduction Today’s Digital Natives Learn Differently Each day Digital Natives spend 6.2 hours using electronic media.

Introduction Today’s STEM Instructors must be prepared to teach this new generation of learners.

Introduction This purpose of this presentation is to review: Characteristics of this generation. Popular Technology & Web 2.0. Suggestions on how to effectively teach to this generation.

Characteristics of Today’s Digital Natives

Today’s Digital Natives Like to Cut-and-Paste. Prefer Visual Information over Text. Multitask all the Time.

Today’s Digital Natives Digital Natives are those young people who come to our classroom with a good understanding of today’s digital technologies.

Today’s Digital Natives They are skilled at using mobile phones, computers, the Internet, gaming devices (e.g., X-box), and other products based on digital technology.

Today’s Digital Natives They are "on-demand," autonomous learners, proactive in determining what information they need and seeking it from the environment to meet their own self-determined goals.

Today’s Digital Natives They tend to process information at twitch speed, determining what is or is not useful in a matter of seconds.

Today’s Digital Natives They relate to graphics first instead of text. They tend to learn best through trial and error. They solves complex problems best within collaborative learning groups and in relevant settings.

Today’s Digital Natives They are active participants in their learning; they "do" first and ask questions later. Failure is a necessary learning experience.

Today’s Digital Natives When they go home from school they may…. log onto the high-speed network on their laptop using a wireless connection check iChat or AOL, talking online with their friends after Googling their research topic and checking Wikipedia… write a research paper spell-check the final paper, then pass it through Turn It In before emailing it to their teacher then create a Powerpoint presentation to show as a visual narrative in class the next day download and share MP3 files, burn music CDs (and possibly violate some copyright laws)

Today’s Digital Natives When they go home from school they may…. turn on their iPods to listen to books, lectures or broadcasts they missed get their daily news online or watch entertainment sites add songs and manage their playlists on iTunes watch cable TV or HBO text their friends all evening using their cell phones or Blackberries pick up their digital camera, film their pet doing funny things, use their Mac to edit the footage and then put it up on YouTube

Today’s Digital Natives When they go home from school they may…. update their Facebook page, see who has written on their wall check favorite blogs or create a blog themselves, using free internet hosting sites actively research material on the web, in order to write new blog posts add images to their Flickr accounts set up a Wiki for one of their classes so they can all share the same facts and data spend some time gaming… XBox, Wii, Playstation

Today’s Digital Natives They depend on technology daily to meet their needs. They have developed elaborate communication systems built around this technology, which connects them instantly to any information they may seek.

Digital Natives & Web 2.0

Digital Natives Web 2.0 Today’s Digital Natives are connected, and they are also connecting to a new type of Internet that uses new technologies for communicating and sharing of information.

Digital Natives Web 2.0 This new Internet has been referred to by various terms including “Web 2.0” and the “social web.”

Digital Natives Web 2.0 - Characteristics A Massively Connected World: Most Web 2.0 applications require that a lot of people are connected to the Internet. The Network Effect: Software being designed to harness the “collective intelligence” of the Internet’s many users.

Digital Natives Web 2.0 - Characteristics Users as Co Creators: Users become writers and creators -- they become “owners” and enhance the value of the materials. Decentralization: Users are located all over the globe - when they act together, the combined force of their actions can have tremendous effect and influence.

Digital Natives Web 2.0 - Characteristics Openness: Nonproprietary standards are making it easier to share data, software, and information. Remixability: Software developers assemble new software by using bits and pieces of other people’s work.

Digital Natives Web 2.0 - Characteristics Emergent: Web 2.0 software offers looser structures and relies on its user, rather than its designers. Rich Experiences: Web sites are full of video, photos, and vibrant visual environments. The Web as a Platform: Software that runs in a Web Browser is no longer slow - smoother and more reliable.

Digital Natives & Technology

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Very Popular Technologies: YouTube ITunes Facebook/MySpace Skype On-line Gaming

Digital Natives Popular Technologies The Computer! That’s Delicious!

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Google: Google the number one search engine on the planet with many applications What Comes After Google? Check out Google for Educators!

www.google.com/educators

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Social Networking Sites: Social networking has revolutionized the way young people communicate and share information with one another in today's society. How do you share what you read on-line?

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Mobile Phones: Mobile phones have progressed rapidly from simple calling devices to portable hand-held computers. Today, it seems that young people are always “texting” instead of talking. Do You Cha Cha?

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Blogs: Short for web log, a blog is an on-line journal that can be published instantly to an Internet website. Today, many young people are using blogs to share their views and observations about their world and the world in general.

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Video and Photo Sharing Sites: Video and photo sharing sites are important mediums used by many young people today to share their “realistic” thoughts through images.

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Wiki: Wikis are web sties built though collaboration. They are a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.

Digital Natives Popular Technologies Podcasting: Podcasting is a mobile technology. It is portable, either through personal computers or mobile devices (MP3 player, handheld, cell phone, or laptop), and provides just-in-time access to information. Don’t forget Twitter!

Do you need a Tweet?

Teaching Digital Natives

Digital Natives versus Digital Immigrants Today’s students are Digital Natives - they have grown up with digital technology. Today’s teachers are Digital Immigrants - they have not grown up with digital technology, but have acquired certain skills and understanding of new technology through necessity. Digital Immigrants are attempting to teach the Digital Natives with methods that are no longer valid; the only choice may be for educators to change the way they teach. (Prensky, 2001)

Digital Immigrant Teachers Many “Digital Immigrant” teachers refuse to change their ways of doing things – they want the Digital Natives to come their ways of doing things. They speak with an accent. They do things like print out their email when the Digital Native doesn’t even use email. That’s an accent. They get their news from the newspaper. Digital Natives likes to get information from a variety of sources. That’s an accent.

Teaching Digital Natives Teacher Suggestion STEM teachers must learn about Digital Natives and embrace them and their technology and try to incorporate what they learn into their classrooms. Challenge: A new way of thinking for schools!

Teaching Digital Natives Teacher Suggestion Ask the Digital Natives (students) for help and ideas.

Teaching Digital Natives Classroom Suggestions Use the cell phone as a learning tool. Surveys Find Answers & Text Digital Cameras Calculators Offer Class Podcasts Record “key” discussions, activities, etc. Challenge: Cell phones not allowed in class!

Teaching Digital Natives Classroom Suggestions Broadcast Videos: Discussions Demonstrations Student Projects Challenge: YouTube not permitted in schools!

Teaching Digital Natives Classroom Suggestions Set-up a classroom Blog. Develop a class website. Set-up a “social network site.

Teaching Digital Natives Classroom Suggestions Set up a photo sharing site. Develop a class wiki site. Use on-line assessments.

Teaching Digital Natives Teacher Suggestions Use the Internet as a resource for teaching. Use Instructional Technology Consider Gaming Don’t forget about Google and it’s many classroom applications.

Teaching Digital Natives Teacher Suggestions Learn everything you can about 21st Century technology skills. Don’t settle for basic personal proficiency - become an expert. Use the Internet.

Teaching Digital Natives Challenges Digital Divide – Some do not have the technology. Technology Not Allowed in the Classroom. Ethics – Illegal and inappropriate Uses. Unprepared – Many teachers are still unprepared to use today's’ technology.

Teaching Digital Natives Change How We Teach The manner in which students are taught will not truly change until the manner in which we teach and evaluate students change. Multiple studies suggest moving students from consumers of information to producers of information. This, above all else is the key to engaging digital learning. Jackson, S. H. & Crawford, D. (2008)

Teaching Digital Natives Change How We Teach Research shows that kids engage in the curriculum more and participate to a higher and deeper level when given real world challenges that match their abilities and interests to the curriculum. The data shows that students in even our poorest under achieving schools do well when technology is used to hook into their learning style. It makes school interesting and it connects with their life.

Conclusion Today’s students are different - they are Digital Natives. Many of today’s instructors are from a different generation – they should prepare themselves to teach to today’s Digital Natives.

Conclusion Learning how to use today’s “Digital Native’s” technologies and incorporating them into the classroom may help to improve teaching and student learning.

THE END

Teaching Digital Natives Teaching Today’s Digital Natives Helpful Resources (Handout)

PAY ATTENTION http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/221/35/

Resources Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants - By Marc Prensky (2001) http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf Digital Immigrants Teaching the Net Generation - Much Ado About Nothing? http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/22/digital-immigrants-teaching-the-net-generation-much-ado-about-nothing/ T4 - Jordan School District - Transforming Teaching Through Technology (Pay Attention Video) http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/221/35/ Net Generation Nonsense - Mark Bullen Discusses Teaching and Learning http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/23/net-generation-nonsense-mark-bullen-discusses-teaching-and-learning/ Though Net Generation Concerns Over-hyped, Integrating Technology the Right Step http://www.openeducation.net/2008/09/26/though-net-generation-concerns-overhyped-integrating-technology-the-right-step/

Resources Digital Natives – Counterpoint Discussion http://www.slideshare.net/Jesnik/digital-natives-counterpoint-presentation Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools. http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008 Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction Wii Love Learning: Using Gaming Technology to Engage Students http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-wii-gaming-technology-classroom Measuring DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY for AMERICA’S CHILDREN: Where We Stand and Where We Go From Here, Including the DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY MEASURING STICK 2005 http://cjtc.ucsc.edu/docs/dd_highlights.pdf

Resources Digital Learners: How Are They Expanding the Horizon of Learning? http://cnx.org/content/m17218/latest STEM Education and Educational Technology Gateways and Resources http://nsdl.org/collection/stem-education/ Defining ‘Generation Y’: towards a new typology of digital learners http://www.elp.ac.uk/downloads/Defining%20Generation%20Y%20Bradford.pdf 21st Century Teaching and Learning, Part 1 http://www.thejournal.com/articles/22505 Meeting students where they learn can have a profound effect on education http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=45668&CFID=2554910&CFTOKEN=11090669 Clickers, Pedagogy and Edtechtainment http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/06/20/groveman

Resources Creating the 21st-Century Classroom http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/creating-the-21st-century-classroom/ Engaging Digital Learners http://campustechnology.com/articles/2007/05/engaging-digital-learners.aspx Generation www.Y: Washington Middle School http://www.edutopia.org/generation-www-y ENGAGED HANDS - digital natives with a difference http://blogs.adobe.com/educationleaders/2008/07/engaged_hands_digital_natives_1.html Digital Natives and Education http://teachissues.blogspot.com/2007/02/digital-natve.html

Resources Pay Attention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw A Vision of K-12 Students Today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=related Networked Student http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA&eurl=http://www.boldleaps.net/ Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Some Thoughts from the Generation Gap http://technologysource.org/article/digital_natives_digital_immigrants