Thingish Things

'Pooh began to feel a little more comfortable, because when you are a Bear of very Little Brain and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.'

So here in response to a request from a colleague are some of the Thingish Things that are inside me - coming out into the open so that other people can look at them.


Monday, August 8, 2011

The digital native is dead

Recently I have been preparing a workshop for the ICP Conference being held in a couple of weeks time. The most challenging thing about this exercise has been NO INTERNET for presenters - and it wasn't until I tried to put the presentation together that I realized how reliant I had become on flicking on and off line when I present.

It has caused me to think of other things that I now do very differently because of digital technology. The biggest one is writing. Prior to computers you had to think very carefully about each sentence you wanted to write and make sure it was fully composed in your head before committing pen to paper. Now I write what I think and then re-arrange it on the screen. Ready, fire, aim. I am not sure if I could complete exam questions anymore as I no longer think that way.

I keep track of my learning in MyPortfolio an online ePortfolio that is brilliant for aggregating your learning - no more getting a clever link to a resource and not knowing where to file it!!!

I have managed to download Kindle onto my iPad and have bought my first eBook - I can't wait to start reading it in the plane. It took a long time for me to change my book buying habits.

Could it be that I have become a digital native - nah I'm too old. I think that the notion of digital native caught on in the early days because young people didn't have to unlearn ways of doing things in order to do things digitally. It is often the good practices of our past that stop us moving forward.

So sorry young people in my book (opps I mean iPad) you no longer own the digital space. Us oldies are catching up as we ditch our old non-digital way of doing things and come into the new.
Posted by at 4:31 PM

5 comments:

  1. Perhaps more important than the idea that older people are digital immigrants is the implicit assumption that the digital native generation know how to use the technology for their learning and have the skills necessary to be a good digital citizen.

    Glad to see a plugged in principal sharing their learning online :-)

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  2. I would agree. I believe more of us "oldies" are probably using more social networks, online tools and apps than the younger ones. I think more of us as using these tools for professional learning and collaboration as there is a real strength in these tools for learning and teaching and PLD.

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  3. Residents...that's what we "oldies" have become. We might inhabit different spaces than the ones we grew up with, but we live here. When we extended our online selves beyond work it became a real and valuable part of our lives. Sadly, I know many who only exist digitally between the hours of 8am and 4pm. They don't know what they're missing.

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  4. Oh I much prefer the term 'residents' to 'oldies' although I am flattered Regan that you have included me in your age demographic!

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  5. Hi Carolyn - I'm not sure how else to get in touch with you as I am guessing you can't access your twitter account. But it appears to have been hacked and is sending out loads of odd messages both publicly and through direct messages. Thought you would like to know - Amanda (Heymilly)

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