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 Welcome back to Desktop Chats! 

This time we will be discussing the terms "Digital Native" and "Digital immigrant", coined by Marc Prensky, and what they mean for students learning in todays age. 

Digital natives are those of us that have grown up surrounded by digital technology like smartphones, video games, and social media and feel naturally comfortable using it. Digital immigrants are those who were born before the widespread use of technology and have had to learn and adapt to it, like a second language almost. The divide between these two generations is significantly affecting how students are taught and how they are learning. Teachers that were born before the technology breakthrough teach all children the same way, assuming old ways of teaching will work for the new age generation (Prensky 2012). This is not the case, kids these days process information at speeds and ways far different than digital immigrants did at that age. 

With the creation of a game called The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy, the developers were able to engage young people into learning CAD software in a way and speed that worked for them. This in turn created a mind shift in the adults, digital immigrants, who had to teach this new content (Prensky 2012). It is possible for digital immigrants to learn and "catch up" with the times in order to teach younger generations successfully, and almost necessary. 

Now, should we think that all people born in the era of digital natives are necessarily literate in technology? Paul Kirschner, an educational psychologist, does not think so. In fact, he disagreed with Prensky stating that just because someone is comfortable around technology does not mean they understand it, this is why schools around the world have a whole curriculum dedicated to teaching technology literacy skills (Kirschner et al. 2017). Growing up with technology does not mean you are inherently good at using it, you are taught and learn through trial and error how to navigate it. This is what Kirschner argues, familiarity does not mean mastery. 

I like to think I am both a native and immigrant in terms of technology, I may have grown up with technology and use it often in my life but there are still many aspects of it that I have no clue how to navigate on my own, google is my best friend sometimes 😅

Thats it for this week, I quite enjoyed thinking about my own place in the digital world and I hope you do too. Take care and I will talk to you soon. Byyyeeee!

Sources:

Prensky, M. (2012). From digital natives to digital wisdom: hopeful essays for 21st century learning. Corwin.

Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142.