technology, learning styles, and teaching (blog on readings)

How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have to Do with It)

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

WebQuests for Music Learning

Technology has changed a lot in the past 30 years. When my parents were my age, they communicated primarily through phone calls (but long-distance calls were expensive) and snail mail. In my generation, communication, even over long distances, is taken for granted because of the abundance of communication technology that exists at our very fingertips. There is some evidence that the fast paced world of technology has made us smarter. Obviously, this has changed our culture and the way people learn, especially the digital natives. Because people learn differently, teachers have to teach differently, using the tools of the age. Digital natives need educators who will use technology to enhance learning. One of the biggest differences in the learning styles of the two generations, from what I gather, is that digital natives are used to learning by trial and error, while a digital immigrant will reference a book or instruction manual to gather information. Digital natives, therefore, are fuller participants in the active learning process than their digital immigrant counterparts. "Edutainment", while not practical in some classrooms, is entirely useful in a music education classroom. "Edutainment" can use the "language" of the digital native, in the form of computer games, to drill many important elements of musical knowledge.