Maybe You're Born With It

Salvete omnes, has anyone ever asked you whether you are an digital native or a digital immigrant? Are you sitting there rereading that question and scratching your head? Well fear not, dear reader, because you are not alone.

Earlier this week, I read a few articles by Marc Prensky that introduce this concept of digital natives versus digital immigrants. So who are digital natives and who are digital immigrants? In his 2001 article, Prensky refers to digital natives as the generation of kids who grew up alongside technology and because of that are fluent in its language and applications. Whereas digital immigrants are the generation of adults who adopted technology and its employment later in their lives.  According to this follow-up video, the cutoff to determine which category an individual might fall under was draw at the year 1980.

Based on this criteria, I would have to label myself as a digital native. Although I don’t feel as if I think any differently than my parents, who would both be labeled as digital immigrants or that I am quite as tech savvy as Prensky frequently describes digital natives being in his articles.

I mean I don’t often find myself getting frustrated with not knowing how to use technology, nor do I find it particularly difficult to keep up with new gadgets. Usually I can figure out how a device or program works by spending time with it and through some trial and error goofing around. The only time I get really frustrated is when something is going wrong with the coding of a program because I don’t know or  understand how to fix it. And while it may seem like I am tooting my own horn, I want to assure you that that I still in no way consider myself tech savvy in the way Prensky describes digital natives. But would you like to know who else is like that, and much better with computers than I am? My dad, who Prensky labels as a digital immigrant.

This is where I found myself starting to disagree with Prensky’s division of technology users, Especially with quotes such as, “Digital Immigrants don’t believe that their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music, because they (the Immigrants) can’t. Of course not – they didn’t practice this skill constantly for all of their formative years. Digital Immigrants think that learning can’t (or shouldn’t) be fun”. I don’t believe someone’s age automatically determines their understanding and enthusiasm to use technology. Instead, I believe it is a person’s willingness to learn about technology that drives their understanding.

So fret not, dear reader, if you are considered to be a digital immigrant. The simple fact that you are reading this blog about incorporating technology into the classroom means that you have that drive and enthusiasm for technology.