IELTS LISTENING – Wildlife Conservation Society S59T4

Firstly what exactly does Prinsky believe, Argues that because today’s young people have been born into a digital world and spend hours simply playing with technology. They’ve changed in fundamental ways. He believes they’re evolving differently and as a result process information differently from previous generations. It’s even possible that _Q31 these young people’s brains have physically changed although whether this is literally true isn’t yet known. Nor does Prensky go quite this far. Ensky divides people into digital Natives and digital immigrants. _Q32 Today’s young people are the digital Natives and they belong in this new digital age because they were born into it and grew up as native speakers of the digital language of computer technology. Whereas ‘digital immigrants’ are those born in the generations before the digital age. Just as those who learn a second language often retain their foreign accent. The immigrants are usually in varying degrees not quite as effective at speaking the digital language as the natives are.

For example, they’re more comfortable finding phone numbers using a phone book or looking up information in an encyclopedia. _Q33 Rather than using the internet as a primary source of information. Prensky calls this the ‘digital accent’ another example of the digital accent is scanning a manual for a computer program rather than assuming the program itself will teach you how to use it. Basically, people with a digital accent have never really stopped relying on their original non-digital means of sourcing information. They prefer doing things as they’ve always done them without typing something into a computer. Predicts that due to all this changes are in store mainly in the area of Education. But what do other Educators and theorists such as Thomas Allen, Samuel James, and Peter Vander believe.

Samuel _Q34&37&39 James from Sydney University agrees with Prensky’s predictions. That educators are _Q34 no longer successful in the way they teach, however not surprisingly Prensky has been _Q37 criticized by more traditional theorists like Peter Vander and Thomas Allen. They disagree with many of Prinsky’s assertions.

_Q35 Vander argues that a typical classroom is more varied than Prinsky believes with students coming from a range of backgrounds. He maintains that a large percentage of these students are _Q35 not necessarily proficient with technology, and not all students today fit the one stereotype and _Q36&38 Allen adds that even though most students today have easy access to technology. _Q36 Some just don’t find the digital medium appealing.

James disagrees though he believes that all today’s students do share the same basic interest in and knowledge of digital technology. However, James believes our younger students can communicate with their digital immigrant teachers and can still learn using methods which have proven to be successful in the past. James’s theories are taken a step further by Alan who recognizes that both digital immigrants and natives have to deal with vast amounts of information in today’s electronic Society.

Allen maintains that while most young students are proficient in playing computer games and using the web in quite basic ways. They’re not used to using the computer at Advanced levels. For example to conduct complex information searches which are so necessary for University study today. Irrespective of Alan’s research James believes it’s possible for _Q39 computer games to play a major role in making classroom learning more stimulating and he cites many instances where this would be possible today. However, Vander asserts that rather than focusing on developing games _Q40 we should think of better ways to assist teachers because no computer program comes close to doing what a human teacher does every day.