Repost from the AECT BlogTrack - Is Being A Digital Native A Good Thing?

Okay, let's try and make these a regular Wednesday feature for the next few weeks and that should be enough to conclude the series. This entry from the AECT BlogTrack is the third and final entry for the month of August and the twentieth overall in the re-posts from this series.

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Since we started this Blog Track, I’ve written a fair amount about digital natives (see More On Digital Natives) for the most recent entry. Most of what I have written about has focused upon whether or not there is such a thing as digital natives. This past week I’ve read some entries posted by Ian Jukes at the The Committed Sardine Blog that have me asking a different question. The entries that caught my attention were:

• Children Getting Wired Early for High Tech
• New Study: Multitasking Hinders Learning
• ADHD Or Advanced Creative Thinkers?

So, assuming that digital natives exist (and if you haven’t read the earlier stuff I think that they do) my new and I think more important question is:

Is the fact that our children today are hard wired differently today a good thing?

I ask because much of the thought behind being a digital native rests on this notion of constant passive attention. Is this constant passive attention manifesting itself in negative ways, doing more harm to our children than good.

Tags: AECT 2006, AECT, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education