The role of the 21st century teacher is, in my opinion, no different than it has ever been.

Our role is to continue to be good stewards and mentors to our students while providing them the
opportunity to gain a skill set that will carry them into their adulthood successfully. While I
would argue that the role hasn’t changed, I would say that the role has become increasingly
important with all of the external challenges the students face today. The world at large seems to
be losing its collective moral compass and allowing the wants and needs of the individual to
reign supreme. Everywhere the student turns, they are bombarded with so called experts who are
intent on teaching them their own perverse vision of how the world should be. They mask their
true intentions under the guise of compassion and fairness. However, Timothy 2:16 warns us,
“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly”
(NIV). The role of the 21st century teacher is to convey knowledge, skills, opportunity to
critically think, and problem solve to their students. Equally important is to model moral
behavior.
In discussion teachers of the 21st century, it is important to understand the distinction
between those who are digital natives as opposed to those who are digital immigrants. Digital
immigrants are those individuals who learned to use computers and technology at some point
during their adult lives. Digital natives are those individuals who were born into the digital age.
This distinction is important because it underlies the skill sets that each group has at their
disposal and thus has an opportunity for mastery. As the educational system transforms from
adopting computers and technology to virtual instruction and beyond, both groups will face
challenges, though slightly different, that they must overcome to become proficient and reach a
level of expertise
The similarity between digital natives and digital immigrants is that the knowledge and
ability to use technology is not inherent, it must be learned and practiced to gain mastery.
Individuals from both groups have equal opportunity to gain the knowledge necessary to become
at minimum proficient with computers and technology. It is important to remember that
exposure is not synonymous with mastery. Simply because digital natives were born into a
technological world, we should not presume they have automatically mastered it, no more than
we should assume that a digital immigrant isn’t proficient. These are practiced skills like any
other, and without experience, the exposure will not produce results.
The main difference between digital natives and digital immigrants is that the digital
natives have never know a world without a given technology and thus may not have developed
alternative skills to complete and disseminate information in an equal way to the digital
immigrants who at some point have lived and functioned without said technology. Digital
immigrants have learned, communicated, taught, and thrived without the use of computers and
technology. By adding technology, the digital immigrant gains another tool for their toolbox,
however, the toolbox is proficiently stocked either way. This may seem like a disadvantage for
the digital native, but that would be mistaken. Yes, the digital immigrant has many tools to
choose from, however, the digital native is the group that stays at the cutting edge of new
technology and development. Because they have lived their entire lives in the digital age, they as
a group are always searching for what’s next. They are the early adopters that do not fear change
and development. Different than their digital immigrant counterparts, digital natives scour for
the newest, or latest version or release. “Digital immigrants have had to adapt and participate in
the transition between an offline life and life as it is now. Digital natives, in contrast, have only
ever know a digital world. They’re comfortable in it” (School, 2022).
 Work, especially in the realm of teaching and instruction, is a collaboration of individuals
with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Being a digital native or digital immigrant does not
seem to pose a distinct advantage over the opposing group. However, each group does have
different strengths and weaknesses, they both also have the opportunity to master technology in a
way that proves significant to educational success.

Reference:

School, E. B. (2022, March 9). Digital Natives vs digital immigrants: Eu Business School. Blog |
EU Business School. https://www.euruni.edu/blog/digital-natives-vs-digital-immigrants/