Labels get in the way of fully understanding people
In a recent Twitter chat #vted we were discussing digital citizenship and the confounded label “digital native” came up. Labels typically get in the way of fully understanding people, and these terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant” smack of ageism and false assumptions. Coined by Marc Prensky over 14 years ago, it was meant to prompt educators to think differently about teaching and learning. The digital tools now available to learners allow us to go far beyond the walls of the classroom; one of my history teachers is blogging with students in Bhutan this week, for example, mutually solving problems through the lenses of their own culture. When I was in ninth grade, we had a dusty old textbook that managed to make even Ancient Rome boring. The world has indeed changed and teaching and learning need to change with the times.