1. Running head: TEACHINGDIGITAL NATIVES:CUSTOMIZED LEARNINGTHEORY
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TEACHING DIGITAL NATIVES: A CUSTOMIZED LEARNING THEORY
CHERIE WRIGHT
LIBERTY UNIVERISTY

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Introduction
Learning is the complex yet vital process of acquiring skills and knowledge necessary to
live, work and contribute within a functioning community. Though learning takes places in a
variety of venues, formal and informal, our society still relies heavily on formal learning settings
to prepare its members for productive, contributive lives by equipping them with relevant
knowledge and skills needed to achieve functional autonomy while integrating well into the
social scape. In their article, Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, Collins and
Halverson discuss uniformity of learning as a value still held in the formal education community
despite significant cultural shifts toward the need for more specialized learning (p. 2). As long
uniformity remains an important value in educational systems, learning theories will be advanced
to ensure that goal is met. In this way learning theories are a means for the educational system to
set a baseline for what all individuals need to know in order to achieve a stable and productive
future. This paper will focus on the issues of the evolution in learning needs and objectives as
they apply to young students, grades K-3rd, and explore the potential for a “New Era” learning
theory that addresses the gaps between traditional and technological ideologies in education.
Learning Theory and Its Importance
Learning theory is to the process of educating what a foundation is to a building. In order
to impart skills and information to learners, educators must operate from a sound basis of belief,
practice, observation, technique and skill. Learning theories guide and support the process of
imparting to students what is necessary to learn and also serve as a ‘quality control’ of sorts,
ensuring that students are receiving the best education possible by providing objective standards

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for imparting information and promoting uniformity in the methodology by which information is
imparted to students. While theorists advance many well researched and evidence based
approaches to learning that seek to address the needs of learners, some researchers, like George
Siemens (2005), observe that theorists are adapting their findings and philosophies at a much
slower rate than the rate of change in society and technology which heavily influence not only
how learning takes place, but also what needs to be learned. Learning theorists devote their
expertise to decoding and exploiting the process of learning while the value of what is being
learned may be diminishing in a world which is growing to value other methods of accessing,
processing and using information previously not accounted for in prevalent theories. According
to the works of Collins, Halverson, and Siemens to name a few, learning theory itself could
become altogether obsolete (p.3).
The accelerating evolution in IT and media and its effects on knowledge, learning,
professional and social function is bringing about new challenges to cultivating theories of
learning that account for these nuances and the potential impact for learning and learners.
Technology induced shifts in knowledge and learning call upon theorists to rethink their ideas
about learning. Educational institutions likewise may be called upon by the demands of a rapidly
shifting society to make adjustments in ideals and expectations of what (knowledge) needs to be
learned by today’s learners and how (methodology) it is best learned. Siemens (2005) explains,
“know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of
where to find knowledge needed)” (p.2). But these adjustments may take place naturally as
learners on their own come to utilize technology in aid of learning outside of the classroom,
making in-class usage natural and familiar. Children as young as 2 are able to navigate the most
current digital devices to play games, take pictures and watch videos. While life in a technology

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saturated society can change the way a child’s brain and social skills develop, a savvy teacher
can use technology to help support a child’s social interactions as they utilize the wide variety of
digital age learning products to enhance what and how their students learn (Kim 2013).
Introducing young learners to a blend of traditional knowledge, basic skills, IT literacy
and technology focused critical thinking skills will provide students the skill set to function with
or without the assistance of technology as well as find necessary knowledge on their own, setting
them on a course to life-long learning.
An Effective Teaching and Learning Environment
According to Educational Psychologist R. Slavin (2015), effective teaching begins with
intentionality. Teachers must be resourceful, self-regulating, proactive and decisive. Teachers
must cultivate good critical thinking skills and develop a logical and systematic approach to the
challenges and issues that often arise in the practice of teaching. Teachers must call upon the
works and findings of researchers to guide and inform their techniques in the classroom, but also
apply common sense and utilize a “best practices” approach.
Teachers must employ prudent, appropriate and effective classroom management skills.
Clear, simple expectations that provide structure, articulate and define preferred behavior and
help maintain order must be established early on. Lessons must be planned in advance with
clearly articulated goals that are age appropriate and engaging. Classroom time must be managed
efficiently and distractions kept to a minimum. Kindergarteners may need to have a scheduled
time of rest or quiet to counter balance prolonged periods of concentration. First through third

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graders may need times of energetic play to expend energies that are restrained during hours of
seated work.
Effective teaching also makes use of direct instruction to carefully present new
information and skills, and ensure students understand and master those skills. Brief games, role
plays, and group discussions can serve to help students review and retain information learned.
Discovery learning can be utilized to help make lessons meaningful for young students. The use
of technology in the classroom, such as tablets, media surfaces or desktops provides students
opportunities to not only reinforce information presented in direct teacher-to-student fashion, but
also teach children the digital literacy necessary to thrive in modern life. Websites such as ABC
Mouse and others feature subject-content games that can be coordinated with classroom lessons
that extend material taught in class and become a motivator for students. Digital interactives
when used prudently can be the focal feature of cooperative learning groups at times. As learning
software evolves, lag times in UI interactions diminish making it possible for students to take
turns at an activity and remain engaged in learning play while another student takes a turn.
Additionally, multi layered digital content makes it possible for one child to focus on a particular
aspect of an activity while another child focuses on a different aspect of the same activity. The
evolution of digital learning products adds yet unexplored potential to classroom learning un-
imagined by previous generations.
The use of technology must be mindfully balanced with person to person (teacher-student
and peer-to-peer) interactions as well as outdoor experiences within nature. The challenge of a
digitally oriented world is that digital experiences can easily become addictive, or at least very
distracting (Kim 2013). They can also cause children unrealistic expectations of how events
should unfold in the real world, as a preference for immediate gratification develops after

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prolonged exposure to digital media (Ferris 2012). Some researchers have even found children 6-
12 months of age show a preference for a digital screen over a human face (Kaufer, 2011, Calvin
& Halverson 2009), demonstrating how much the evolution of information technology is
changing the way children develop and function at even the most fundamental levels.
Parents play a vital role in their children’s learning process. The habits parents teach
children at home come into the classroom with each child (Bennet 1999). Teachers can partner
with parents to make sure that home learning dovetails with school learning for a child’s
optimum academic success. Additionally with the high divorce rates and rising rates of couples
who do not marry while raising children, an increasing number of children come from homes
with either a single parent or parents who are over-burdened and unavailable to assist with
homework. This is where teachers have an opportunity to use every tool at their disposal to
provide children from such environments the best advantages possible with an arsenal of
engaging classroom activities and online supplementals that children can access with little
assistance.
However, imparting information and skills are not the only goals of teaching. Spending
several hours a day with the children they teach gives teachers the opportunity to nurture more
than a child’s intellect. Brummelen (2009) enumerates the many roles of a teacher in a series of
metaphors: artist, technician, facilitator, storyteller, craftsperson, steward and priest. Each of
Brummelen’s metaphors correspond to the character of Christ, and represents an array of gifts,
abilities, aptitudes, to equip his followers to carry out His will. Romans 12:6 speaks to this
gifting, specifically that these gifts are given according to grace, which suggests that different
roles may be fulfilled at different times, according to the needs of the students at the direction of
the Holy Spirit.

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But Brummelen’s metaphors are applicable even for non-Christians. Caring for students a
whole being, as opposed to approaching them as a purely cerebral creature is not limited to a
Christian world view. Younger students need more than purely intellectual rigor. They need the
inspiration of an artist, the inventiveness of a technician, the imagination of a storyteller to guide
them as they progress through their journey of learning.
Learning Characteristics
During the early elementary years, K-3rd grade children are beginning to transition from
more simplistic and self-referenced thought patterns to more sophisticated and other-focused
perspectives. This early stage of psychological functioning is identified by Piaget as the
preoperational stage (Slavin 2015). Children at this stage tend to be egocentric, though they still
engage in a variety of positive social interactions. Their attention spans tend to be shorter and
their ability to govern their physical behaviors can falter. At this stage lessons must me simple,
as compared to lessons for older students, engaging and memorable. Utilizing tactile, visual, and
auditory elements whenever possible ensures that students grasp concepts in their specific
‘learning language’. With young students, the greater the use of these modalities, combined with
Brummelen’s (2009) four phases of learning, the greater the likelihood that skills and
information will be mastered.
In addition to Brummelen’s four stages of learning, Ulrich discusses the various ways
that children and adults perceive information. Perception refers to the most fundamental way in
which a person takes in information from and about their surroundings. Perception is highly
variable from one person to another. Ulrich draws upon the psychological works of Dr. A.

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Gregorc to construct four general combinations of perceptual patterns in learners: Concrete
Sequential, Abstract Sequential, Abstract Random and Concrete Random. Each combination of
traits refers to how a person takes and mentally orders information (Ulrich 1994). Perception
plays a key role in learning, as seen in cases of dyslexia and other learning disorders. A teacher is
better equipped to support a child’s learning by understanding how each child takes in and orders
information from and about the world around them.
Activities such as read-aloud stories, student created models and visuals, and in class or
take-home projects enrich the learning potential of younger students. Careful attention to and
time spent on in class learning will minimize tedious homework assignments that exhaust
students and frustrate parents. Supporting in class learning with educational websites, or apps
gives students the opportunity to practice basic skills in real time in a format that is both
challenging and entertaining, moreover, familiar to a digital native. For example a lesson on
multiplication can be followed by taking turns with the Math 4 Kids app that allows students to
do a digital fact review that instantly provides feedback as they input answers on the
touchscreen. Various ‘stations’ can be set up around the classroom and students can rotate briefly
experiencing the same lesson in a different modality. Young students benefit from a learning
atmosphere that is light, fun and nonthreatening.
As the school year progresses, it may become apparent that students vary in the rates at
which they are able to learn such that in-class ability groups may be formed to assist students in
keeping pace with their peers, as discussed by Slavin (2015). With young students however, the
groupings would be more informal, with the goal of exposing the students who are having
trouble grasping the information to the learning habits and processes of their peers who have
stronger comprehension. Groups can be formed and reformed on the basis of the subjects being

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presented as mastery rates may vary for one student across subjects. For instance, Mary may
excel at math but need help in spelling. In the math group Mary’s abilities inspire and inform her
groupmates, in the Spelling group Mary is inspired by her groupmates and her spelling improves.
Taken together, learning at these younger grades should consist of basic fact knowledge,
character modeling, socialization to constructive personal behavior and the development
effective learning habits. Simply put, fruitful personal habits and effective lifelong learning
abilities start in kindergarten.
Personal Reflections
Parkers’ Learning Styles inventories revealed a detailed map of how I learn, approach
new information process and retain it. The inventories revealed the strengths weaknesses of my
study and research skills providing insights which will be useful for my professional
development as well as providing a perspective that enables me to relate to my students, build
rapport with them, and optimally support their educational experiences.
The Philosophical Methodology of Learning Profile (PMLP) revealed that my learning
philosophy trends heavily toward the Traditionalism with aspects of Constructivist ideologies as
well. In order to formulate a balanced and socially relevant learning theory I made an effort to
consider and adopt ideas that include digital age concerns and the needs of modern students. My
results from the PMLP have helped me to contemplate teaching in a rapidly evolving society
with regard to what aspects of Traditionalism can or should be preserved within my approach to
educational philosophy and how those tried-and-true elements, such as rote memorization of

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basic math facts, versus what skills should be revised or replaced altogether with more current
methods.
Parker’s Learning Styles Profile (PLSP) revealed that I myself am a multi-modal learner.
I rely equally on the three main modalities of learning in order to process and grasp information.
I would add also that there is a fourth area that is vital to my learning process: the interpersonal. I
find it very difficult to learn certain skills or information without physical interpersonal
interaction with others who either have already learned or are learning those skills also. Hence, I
have included in my philosophy of learning an emphasis on maintaining person to person
interactions as part of the learning process in tandem with digital learning interfaces.
Having a greater understanding of my own modalities and philosophy provides insight to
the learning styles and abilities of my students, as well as providing diagnostic tools that I can
use to determine how my students learn best.
Conclusion
My commitment to upholding human-ness in my classroom is rooted in the fact that
humans were created and hard-wired for relationships. No matter how much the world outside of
us changes, our primal needs and drives will not. It is therefore vital to me as a teacher and a
follower of Christ to preserve and uphold that which God created and declared to be good: our
humanity. It is also important also to preserve our connections to the rest of creation, the natural
world through which we often have the most vivid experiences of God.

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References
Bennet, W. (1999) The Educated Child. NewYork,New York. Touchstone. pp. 15-18
Brummelen, H. (2009) Walking With God in the Classroom. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Purposeful
Design Publications. pp. 46-48
Collins, A. & Halverson, R. (2009) Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital
Revolution and the School. NewYork:Teachers College Press. pp. 8, 9
Ferris, S (2012) Teaching,Learning and the Net Generation: Concepts and Tools for Reaching Digital
Learners. Hershey,Pennsylvania. IGI Global. pp. 7, 9
Kaufer,D. (2011) Neuroscience and How Students Learn. Retrieved from: http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-
guide-contents/learning-theory-research/neuroscience/ pp. 3, 5-6
Kim, Y. (2013) Young Children in the Digital Age. Retrieved from:
https://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/cy/2013/fs1322.pdf pp. 2, 3
Slavin, R. (2015) Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice. New York,New York. Pearson
Education..
Siemens, G. (2014, October 2) Connectivism: A Learning Theory forthe Digital Age. Retrieved from:
http://er.dut.ac.za/handle/123456789/69
Ulrich, C. (1994) The Way They Learn. CarolStream,Illinois. Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 18-26