The Big Question (May 2008)

The Big Question on the Learning Circuits Blog for May 2008 is whether or not there are or should be learning design differences for Digital Natives.

My initial reaction to all of this was a resounding "Yes", but upon deeper reflection, I think there are some underlying issues that make these questions premature (at best) and irrelevant (at worst).

Some of the sub-questions to the "Big Question" include:

• Do you believe that we have to design, develop and deliver instruction differently for the so-called Digital Natives?
• Are there differences in learning expectations and styles or can we just design good instruction and know that it meets all generational needs?
• If you have an audience that includes natives and immigrants, how can you effectively design instruction without breaking the bank?

For the first bullet (do we need to design, develop, and deliver instruction differently for Digital Natives), my answer is a resounding "Yes" and "No". "Yes" because Digital Natives deserve better than page-turners; "No" because I don't think the way we are training Digital Immigrants is good at all, and we owe it to all learners to have comparable learning opportunities. The underlying issue is whether or not the current way that Digital Immigrants are being taught is good. Immersive learning (whether you are talking games, simulations, virtual worlds, etc.) have been shown to be useful for all age groups. I would hate to see people come away from this question assuming that Digital Natives should receive the technology-ladened, immersive environments while Digital Immigrants are fed the same old page-turners. Also, there are numerous flawed research studies out there that have already attempted to compare learning gains using differing instructional methods.

Putting issue #1 aside, the majority of professionals undoubtedly recognize that technology has impacted the way Digital Natives have grown up. However, claiming that different instruction needs to be provided to Digital Natives based on a generalization, brings up the issue and risk of ignoring the importance of an audience analysis. There are many Digital Natives that are not as fluent with technology, and conversely there are some Digital Immigrants that excel at the trade craft of Digital Natives.

Case in point...one of my colleagues recently told me about a story while she and her husband were on a cruise. Her husband had stopped by the arcade on board the cruise ship. He played (and beat) some kids at one of the video games. The kid who lost, walked away and muttered (to the surprise of my colleague's husband), "I can't believe I lost to an old guy". He is only 32 years old.

The last issue I'll address regarding the questions above is that of learning styles (bullet #2 above). I've written previously about the attacks on learning styles, and I admit that I still have my doubts that learning styles even exist. In order to avoid rehashing my previous post, I will just point folks back to the importance of motivation rather than learning styles.

My conclusion for the Big Question, is that we need to get serious about addressing learning design for everyone...not just Digital Natives.