Digital Ellis Island or native

When I consider the notion of my being a digital immigrant versus a native, I realize I must be one of those who came to the new country and by luck, sheer will and curiosity, managed to survive and even thrive better than most of my countrymen. This is in part due to my background and training, and partly due to my having a teen-aged son. He is absolutely a part of the digital native population or N-gen/D-gen people that Mark Prensky discusses in his article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants". He and his friends spend many hours engaging with the world via various technologies, and have a non linear approach to the world. As Prensky notes, "Digital Native are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task."I am an artist who has spent his life as a highly trained theatrical technician. My world involves some of this digital country's coolest innovations to make the productions I work on exciting and expressive. However, I am not a native. I exemplify that which has put the human being at the top of the hierarchy on earth. I am adaptable.

Because my profession utilizes a good deal of technology, I have already had the wake up call to integrate it into my classroom. The students I teach stagecraft to come in hungry for knowledge, and familiar with what the technology does for entertainment. I am very comfortable with how this specialized technology works, and how to use it for creative ends. I have enjoyed showing the possibilities of it to students, and to let them get their hands dirty using it. What is so cool about theatrical technology is that it still incorporates a lot of analog technology to make it work. It therefore, has a unique ability to bridge the gap. This may be why it worked for me as well. As new equipment comes on line, and we find interesting ways to incorporate it into theatre, I am just as excited as the students. I just don't text my friends about it. I may call them instead.

When I went to high school, the Apple 2-E was just rolled out and my school got a grant to purchase six units. All juniors were required to take one semester of computer programing as part of our civics class. We took turns waiting to do very simplistic programs that would show our name across the screen over and over in long rows. Forever. In college, new theatre technologies were just starting to arrive, and personal computers were very slowly replacing typewriters. I happened to be arriving right at the start of the digital nation's birth. I would, however, not be able to afford the technology as it changed. The first cell phones were over a thousand dollars (in 1980 dollars!). Compact disc players were several hundred dollars. My access to technology was acquired through schools and professional theatre companies that were able to purchase it. The difference was, I wanted to know about it, not resist it. In his article"Do They Really Think Differently?" Prensky identifies a similar characteristic among the digital natives. "And now things have changed yet again, and our children are furiously retraining their brains in even newer ways, many of which are antithetical to our older ways of thinking." As newer technologies come on line, will these natives become more, or less adaptable? It seems to me, the people who are able to adapt in some way will do just fine.

In the classrooms of the future, I will continue to use the technologies that make the art form exciting and relevant. Students, like my son and his friends, expect to see a light show each time they go to a performance. They expect to see large multi-image screens and hear a wide array of sounds mixed from a multitude of sources. And, they want to run these shows themselves right away. In his article" Engage Me or Enrage Me" Prensky alludes to this by pointing out that all students have "something that they do that they are good at,something that has an engaging, creative component." My stagecraft students come to school ready to know how to make super entertaining shows. My mission is to show them how, and help them decide if this is appropriate for the piece. I get to show them how to do the work stripped down, and then to add technology to support the work, not just because it's cool and exciting. This is a key component of making art. It must serve the artist's intent. This is along the lines of Prensky's idea of what is lost with the digital natives. Reflection. By looking at the artist's intent, it gives the young theatre technician pause to reflect about what would best fit the piece. They must consider the author, or the director's vision. Then, they are welcome to bring in as much technology as will fit! The trick is to find a balance.

So what if I am an immigrant? My experience tells me that if we respect the fact that students are already natives, and that the technology is already part of their lives, we can use this information to help them learn, and to find value in the times when we do not need to use technology. Maybe we will someday use cell phones in classes to support learning. Maybe we will all have access, instantaneously, to everyone else, all the time, and can use it all the time in schools. I will adapt as well as I can. My main mission, though, is to teach.