Beyond Digital Natives

"This suggests that schooled constructions of literacy, and perhaps reading literacy in particular, caused considerable disruption for Caitlyn, as her own strategies to make sense of texts were perceived to be without value in the school system."

Whereas the other two boys participating in the study found their digital literacy skills to be transferrable, Caitlyn did not. This suggests that not all digital natives are able to acquire digital skills in the home and transfer them to the classroom setting.

I believe that this is characteristic of many students today whom find their amazing and innovative skills to be severely undervalued in the classroom setting. From a self-sesteem standpoint, this creates negative feelings that are directly tied to school. So, it is wrong to assume that all children will be able to seamlessly apply these digital skills that were acquired in the home to the school environment.

The portion of the study on Caitlyn goes on to suggest that there are apparent gender differences in this field of study. However, Caitlyn serves as a representation of male and female students across the board that see the lack of digital technology in the school, and subsequently become discouraged against using these literacy skills in paper format.

It is imperative that we as educators implement digital literacy skills within the curriculum in order to bridge the gap between home and school.

"The consequences of not developing a better understanding are far greater, because with this comes the risk that we will ignore subtle digital divides that do threaten the quality of our education systems."


This was the last sentence in Chapter 11, which summed up the chapter beautifully. The alternative to not continuing research and integrating digital literacy skills is that our education systems will further suffer. Change is a natural part of the life cycle, but the major difference here is that the change is not a top-down approach--we are not the ones initiating it--our students are.

They are giving us subtle yet major hints that indicate change in the school is not only beneficial, but necessary.

"Despite this reality of legal practice, we almost always teach young people to learn on their own in the quiet of the library carrel and then demand that they take an exam on their own."


This quotes proves the disconnect that taking place between legal schooling and true legal work. Whereas legal work is inherently collaborative in nature and thrives on working in a team, law school teaches the polar opposite.

So we obviously have legal professionals that despite their formal schooling have learned by trial and error that collaborative discussion with legal partners and technological methods work best. We must ask ourselves why legal education hasn't evolved to support this.

I realize that not all students like to work collaboratively in a group atmosphere--I don't prefer it. However, that doesn't mean that you don't learn by working in a group. We have students with all types of learning styles to accommodate and I believe that by having a curriculum that incorporates private learning, group work, and digital literacy skills; students can take comfort in working how they prefer while simultaneously being challenged to learn by other methods. By keeping a balanced and challenging curriculum, students will inevitably be more motivated and engaged.