Bloom, Schrock and Prensky

21st Century Learners: Digital Natives

Technology is not a thing of the past, but a thing of the present. It continues to change just as the role of the educator, librarian, and administrator do in a school setting. The idea of learning and how students learn also continues to change and grow as the majority of our students have grown up with technology according to Beloit College’s Mindset List( Beloit, 2015). In order to understand 21^st Century learners we first need to realize that students were born using, knowing, touching all of these different aspects of technology that some of us are just now learning how to use as tools in the classroom. Gaming, social media sites, apps, and online reference tools have continued to make technology a part of their daily lives and they no longer learn in the way of their parents.

Across my district, the clip from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,  where the economics professor stands before a room of bored, unenthused students trying to lecture, has become the prime example of what ineffective teaching is. I immediately refer to this in my mind as I listened to Marc Prensky because this is what lecturing is to the 21^st Century Learner who would rather have a hands on approach utilizing technology than being lectured in class. Prensky’s presentation tells us that 21st Century Learners are most engaged and involved in the learning process when they are able to share, search, learn and communicate through technology. Wit technology continuing to change then it is an educator’s role to be open to those changes and rethink of the ways technology can be utilized in their lessons. As a librarian it is important that they are the advocate for their school library program and for incorporating technology to help close the technology gaps between educators and student learners in order to better support student achievement.

As an educator, I want what I believe all educators want, which is to have students who are so deeply engaged and involved with their learning that they are able to find connections and meaning to what they are taught. So, if this is what educators are wanting, then why are we not engaging them in the way they learn best? I agree with some parts of Beloit College’s Mindset List and how learners today have grown up in this new and different world using technology and where educators now need to learn new vocabulary to communicate effectively with students of today. So, if learners have grown up in this world of technology, why are we not implementing more ways to incorporate technology, like B.Y.O.D.-bring your own device?

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (Churches,2009) which has changed throughout the years of education is based on the changing needs of the learner and how to use tools of technology to facilitate learning. I enjoyed reading how the updated Bloom’s allows readers to understand how H.O.T.S can be integrated into different aspects of technology to better interest and relate to 21^st Century learners. Prensky states in his presentation that technology for a digital native is and should be part of the foundation upon which learning is built, not used as a tool. I see technology as a tool for learning and as a foundation piece for learners of today because of how meaningful and popular it has become. I remember being a student in the mid 90’s-2000s and being excited over using an overhead and learning Power Point, which is something that is now considered outdated and boring to digital natives. However, it was a tool that I needed to learn to use and help me throughout my education. 21^st Century learners are not the same and I believe that we are moving into a time where technology will become more of a foundation as different generations in the field of education continue to learn more about it.

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything, (Schrock, 2011) provides great information on different apps that can be applied for the differing Bloom’s Levels and I think would be important to share with administrators to explain why certain apps and games should be used. Her Web 2.0 Apps Graphic is something that I am interested in sharing with others on my campus to show how it utilizes Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy with apps most educators are aware of. As technology and the way students learn continues to change then it is important to find ways to maintain a supportive school environment where everyone can learn. I think that a school librarian would continue to care about the changing technological world in order to be a source of reference for classroom teachers and learners to help learning continue to be meaningful and exciting.