21ST CENTURY LEARNERS: DIGITAL NATIVES

JAYPEE S. LAPIRA

Every student has an individual style and personality that differentiates him or her from others. Teachers need to understand this. In understanding, the different styles of the learners help us find our strength and learn more.

In this connection, teachers should be highly effective. We need to start thinking more comprehensively, about how we are going to step into a digital learning environment to strengthen our professional development and support.

YES! We are committed to our students, enjoying our work and devoted to our profession or content areas BUT we are dealing now with the 21st century students, who come to school with very different sets of experiences and expectations compared to their counterparts.

These 21st Century Learners or Digital Natives are tech-savvy, multimedia, multi-tasking and navigate everyday life far different from their teachers or digital immigrants. To connect, relate, or motivate them we should be open to new ways of teaching in supporting our students. This is really a BIG challenge!

Our students need and deserve motivating, supportive instructional environments, engaging content, and the opportunity to learn. Because these students live digitally every day. They use the internet, text messaging, social networking and multimedia fluidly in their lives outside of school and they expect a parallel level technology opportunity in their academic lives.

Today, for some reasons there is a “disconnection or GAP” to which student’s engagement suffers or at risk. We need to close this GAP by applying/ employing new and innovative teaching strategies. This is a very important factor in student’s education to be highly qualified or become high quality teachers and effective teachers. Therefore, our students will see that we are modeling effective, productive in using technology and they perceive that we are engaging in their world.

Teachers become more effective than they were, more skilled, have better knowledge and more engaged. So together, let us improve our teaching and student learning.\

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The author is Teacher III at Pulungmasle High School