About game based learning

Digital natives

The society and culture of young people is awash with technology – with a range of ICT-based consumables that form the fabric, as well as the language and grammar of that environment. According to Mark Prensky (founder and CEO of Games2Train) they become native in understanding and using it.

Digital natives:

  • are used to receiving information at high speed
  • develop the ability to parallel process/multi-task
  • develop a preference for graphics before text
  • prefer random access (such as hypertext)
  • work very well when networked
  • thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards
  • prefer games to ‘serious’ work.

Digital immigrants

Adults in contrast have adapted to this language and environment. Immigrants are people like you and me, established professional adults. Even though they develop an awareness of and high level of competency with ICT they still retain what Prensky calls an accent.

Examples of this accent are:

  • printing out e-mails
  • the 'did you get my e-mail?' phone call
  • referring to the manual first.

The implications for education

This concept throws up serious questions for us in teaching and learning such as:

  • Is it the case that learners coming into school now and in the future are different from learners of the past?
  • Is it the case that digital immigrants will need to consider the effectiveness of methodologies that were embedded in established learning practices that were ordered and linear?
  • How do we begin to create and offer curriculum contexts that connect with, engage and motivate digital natives?

One area that Prensky believes is very important is the significance of computer games to digital learners. He argues that the designers of these games have a greater appreciation of how to create engaging and motivating learning environments and that the education world would do well to consider how this could be exploited in order to enhance teaching and learning experiences of learners from the ‘Playstation Age’.

Reference 

PDF file: Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001)