Digital Natives Part A

Definition of Digital Native

What are they good at?
Learn faster through IT.
Explore new 'stuffs' and discover new stuffs by surfing.
They get attached to it fast, and keep improvising on what they are doing.
Interact with many people in the world (keeping in contacts and update each other)
Creative
They are a group of people that influence learning beyond classroom (game based learning).

What are they poor at?
They are addicted to any forms of IT.
Sometimes they may too obsessed with IT that their illusion world affect the way they are.


I selected Olivia. It is interesting to see how IT affect students regardless of their academic performance, family background and characters. For Olivia, she came from not so wealthy family, and she does not perform well in academic initially. However throughout, she is keen in IT such as myspace. It is quite similar to some Singapore students whereby they do not have computers at home but are interested to learn more about IT. The way they are engaged to forms of IT are stronger than learning 'traditionally' through books based. Their lives are affected by IT and this acts as a tool for them to know what is happening in other parts of the world. They are more concern about their 'IT world' then their daily lives. Like Olivia, even she has no computer at home, she would find a way to have access to computers be it at her friend's or Appple store.

For students like her, teachers should use teaching methods such as game based learning or any form of lesson which requires surfing for information. These lessons objectives should be able to make them relate. By using IT also, it will increase their motivation in studies. Teachers will be able to show them that IT can and should be used for proper and useful reasons and learning to improve oneself is not only restricted to reading by books.

Part B
Technology is advancing way faster than we can imagine. New discoveries are found in any aspects; medical field etc. Looking at the videos provided, they already show what are the possibilities or in other words, nothing is impossible. We have to keep on learning and update ourselves with new advanced technologies and knowledge to teach students and motivate them to keep improvising. The words in the video "we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist" explains the fact that there are more unknown and fantastic tools coming up.

I did asked myself before, knowledge is so wide. I can't possibly know everything throughout my entire life. And in the video it also states that "for students starting a 4year degree this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study". Isn't it overwhelming that we all have to keep on progressing..and whatever we have learnt before, will it be a waste in the future?

The future is unknown, but I am sure that things full of possibilities may happen. Movies such as minority reports and i-robots, I believed people (researches) are working towards that direction. People will be so dependent on technologies that they are no longer obsessed. It is in their lives. When these possibilities happened, is it a good thing? I am indeed excited if I can experience them, but on further note, everything that we do, there are chances that we are being 'tied' to the government. We are tracked with all our movements and such, so where is the individual freedom in the first place? Or is it already gone without we realising?

Hence, I believed technologies are great itself. What makes them desirable or bad are depending on what humans used them for. Whatver it is, learning itself has a new different wonderful meaning, and it able to show us the wonders of thinking processess. Oh, and there's a video on Pomegranate Phone posted by our classmate, Atika. For those who have not seen it, here's the link. It is wonderful, yet I am still doubting how a phone can create coffee? Oh well, technology has its own secrets. (: enjoy!