Week Eight - Task Five: Abstracts for each article

Each student write your own abstract for each article.

Abstrct for Article 1
This article has a focus on the teacher – learner relationship, and the use of technology in higher education. The hierarchal place of teacher and student are deconstructed, providing clear insight into the differences between digital immigrants and digital natives. The article argues against the de-privileging of the teacher who is, as a digital immigrant, seen as backward-looking, slow and old and is put in a subordinate position next to the native students. The article also addresses the issues of teacher - learner relationships in higher education institutes, as it can be suggested that an institute’s ability to meet expectations of new digital native students will form part of their competitive advantage.

Abstract for Article 2
This article focuses on the education system and how much digital natives would benefit from a change in the system to make it more technologically friendly. The author has strong opinions for changing the way education is provided to students and has a very positive opinion on the new digital world. It suggests that students of the 21st century are very different from older generations and that pupils need to be more integrated into the teaching methods in order for them to successfully and joyfully gain an education. Digital natives are advancing and evolving rapidly, and teachers (digital immigrants) need to be fully aware of how much natives know and rather than try and learn these skills they should be leading discussion and including these new technologies in the classroom.

Abstract for Article 3
This article focuses on the differences between generations of digital immigrants and the digital natives who make up the present day’s student body. These digital natives have grown up surrounded by technology and most have spent more time using technology than they have reading a book. This article suggests that the two types of people differ so much that even their brain structures are different. The article suggests that the notions of digital immigrant and digital native also help to see the variations between people who are at ease with technology and people who are not. The article justifies the need for a drastic change in the USA’s education system.

Abstract for Article 4
This article concentrates on digital native’s preference and skill of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking, also known as parallel processing, is how digital natives cope with information overload, and it is an activity they engage in on a daily basis both in and out side of education. The article discusses other findings about whether multi-tasking is having a positive or negative effect on digital natives. One conclusion which the article finds is that multi-tasking is not dangerous, but it does increase the time that it takes to complete a task. The author suggests that trying to stop digital natives from multi-tasking would be ineffective, rather educating them on how best to multi-task and explaining the effects of multi-tasking would be the best way to effectively use their skill.

Abstract for Article 5
This article deals with the idea that the digital native debate is based on two ideas: digital natives actually exists, and education must essentially change to accommodate the needs of these new types of student. Although many academics agree with the need for change in the education system, the wider picture of the issue is unclear, with many people voicing different opinions and not much theoretical backup of the situation. The authors of this article suggest that the wide media coverage of this topic is making the situation seem worse than it realistically is. They also propose that more research into the subject needs to be done before any major changes are made, as they suggest that there is more to young people’s relationship with technology than the idea of ‘digital native’ implies.