Why+is+This+Important+for+Teachers?

**Why Worry? Who Cares? **

"And as a parent--I have two young children, one seven and one four--I came to this in a way through a debate, if not a dispute, with my wife about how to raise our kids in a digital age. She's an early childhood education specialist and has strong views about limiting screen time. As somebody who studies using new technologies, I'm eager to impart the skills to them to navigate this world well. So it was apparent that not only are there abrupt changes occurring in usage patterns, but also there's a lot of disagreement as to what is the right thing to do." (Harris, 2009 pg 32)

That was taken from an interview with John Palfrey, coauthor of //Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives //  (Basic Bks., 2008). Teachers, parents, and the community must be aware of the new genre of students entering schools. There is no question that there will be conflicting views on how to teach these students and where one should draw the line in exposing digital natives to technology in the classroom.

Teachers must nurture digital creativity, but it must also be monitored quite heavily. School projects are not quite the same as they used to be. Perhaps students can now create and receive information at a much faster pace, but with this comes complications. Issues such as piracy, false information, and offensive websites are just a few of the complications that teachers will face in their classrooms. Teachers must educate their students about the effects of piracy or dangers of certain websites.  "Just as an artist may create a sculpture from materials found in the wild, digital natives view the media landscape as their “natural habitat” from which they can pull resources for creativity, expression, and commerce. The future balance of expression and property issues will be an important legal discussion in the years ahead." (http://www.digitalnative.org/wiki/Main_Page, 2009) 

Many of the issues involving digital natives can be avoided with proper education. Teachers have a huge responsibility to get students to digitally create responsibly. Parents must also be on board with digital projects and assignments. Digital creativity is a wonderful thing, but safety must always be the number one priority. In order to ensure this safety, teachers should embrace the unique qualities of digital natives and do their best to enter into that world.