Session A2:
Digital Natives vs Digital Immigrants: Implications for the Classroom

Tucker Harding
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Faculty are now contending with students who have grown up with the Internet. This session explored whether this changed dynamic is creating a new learner that requires different approaches to teaching and learning. With today's youth being surrounded by new information technologies, many driven by gaming technologies, some believe we are witnessing the birth of a new kind of person, and specifically a new kind of student. During the session, we described the emerging concept of the "digital native" (contrasted with those who would otherwise be "digital immigrants") in the context of higher education. Both sides of the debate were presented around whether such a "native" exists and is truly a different kind of learner that should be accommodated in new ways. The presentation lead to a discussion of implications, both real and potential, for faculty and the Columbia classroom. View the bibliography for this presentation.

About the presenter: Tucker Harding is an educational technologist at CCNMTL. He is also a doctoral candidate in Communication and Education at Columbia's Teachers College. He manages the creation, use, and evaluation of computer-based educational simulations for improving teaching and learning of complex phenomena. His work can be found at Columbia's School of Public Health and the School of International and Public Affairs, where he also co-teaches the course, Prevention of Mass Killing and Genocide. FULL BIO

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