By 21 years of age, Digital Natives have spent an estimated 20,000 hours watching TV; 10,000 hours playing video games; 10,000 talking on cell phones; watched more than 500,000 commercials; sent more that 250,000 emails and texts; and spent a mere 5,000 (often less) hours reading! (Prensky; 2001) Natives want information quickly from multiple sources. They prefer parallel processing and multitasking. Native learners prefer processing pictures, sounds and video to processing text. Learners choose to interact and network simultaneously with others. They demand learning that is relevant, instantly useful and fun (Jukes, 2006)…or they TUNE OUT!!

Student brains are different due to the bombardment of sensory stimulation afforded by the digital age. Do we lose these learners because they are “different” or do we “meet them where they are”?

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