District Administration - November 2009 - (Page 25)

Conversations John Palfrey Educating Digital Natives THE FIRST GENERATION OF “DIGITAL NATIVES” those born after 1980 into a digital, online world—now influences everything from pop culture to politics, and much research suggests that this generation of young students thinks, works and learns in a very different way from previous generations. These factors in particular have implications for nearly every aspect of society, from parenting to education. In their recent book, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives, law professors John Palfrey and Urs Gasser present a thorough study of the digital native generation, based on analyses of existing research as well as hundreds of interviews with digital natives and the teachers, librarians and psychologists who educate and observe them in the United States and around the world. Palfrey is Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and vice dean for library and information resources at Harvard Law School, as well as faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a Harvard research center dedicated to the study of the development of cyberspace, in addition to Internet law and policy. We spoke with him about the ways in which digital natives learn and absorb information, online safety concerns for students in the digital age, and the implications for K12 school administration. Harvard law professor John Palfrey’s new is topic is an important and fast-changing area of scholarship. e ﬁrst stage is “grazing.” Instead of sitting down every morning to read the paper, for example, digital natives go through the day absorbing information, via a Yahoo reader, RSS feed, Facebook and the like. A subset will take the second step, the “deep dive,” where they are looking for further analysis by clicking on a hypertext link, hearing a podcast, or seeing what their friends think. is stage is like actually reading a newspaper article instead of just the headline. e third step is the most engaged, the “feedback loop,” where they engage the information on a deeper level, critique it and share it by posting it in their Facebook proﬁle or on Twitter. JP: www.DistrictAdministration.com Q: book examines the lives of digital natives. Describe the stages digital natives go through as they absorb information. e fear here is that students will only use these tools to go through the ﬁrst or second step. Students getting the most educational beneﬁt and absorbing the most information are going through all three steps. Should this three-step process be replicated in schools, putting the focus on this methodology and not on the technology itself? You argue that some digital natives are able to discern the quality of information online while others are not. Do you see schools playing a role in helping young people do this? JP: at’s true, and I think that’s crucial when we think about technology. e technology should not dictate to us how we use it. We should instead ask the questions: “What do we want to accomplish in the classroom?” and “Can this technology help us?” And if so, we should use it. e schools that ﬁgure out how technology informs pedagogy are going to have the most success. JP: Absolutely. is is one place where you can also bring in librarians. Historically, the job of a school librarian is to select high quality information, to include that in a collection, make it accessible, and help students ﬁnd it when they need it. at same series of tasks is even more important in the digital era. So you believe that librarians are more important today, not less? Some may ﬁnd that idea counterintuitive. JP: I do. I’ve heard a line many times, that because of Google, librarians are obsolete in the digital age. at couldn’t be further from the truth. ere in fact is greater November/December 2009 25 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2009

District Administration - November 2009
Contents
Advertiser Index
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Facilities & Construction
Stimulus Monitor
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Mobile Learning Guide
The New Writing Pedagogy
Staying Ahead in Education
Tightening the Purchasing Process
Minding Your E-mail
New Books
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Problem Solution
New Products
Professional Opinion
Crisis Response

District Administration - November 2009