Digital Immigrant or Digital Native? Couldn't I just be a Digital Citizen?

hi all

 I find I have so much to say after Week 2's readings that I'm going to post several short posts - to ensure that I don't go too much over the word limit - always going to be a problem for me!
According to Prensky's (2001) definition, I am definitely not a Digital Native.  However, I'm don't really consider myself to be an Immigrant. I am quite tech savvy and will embrace new technology as long as I see a genuine use for it; I consider myself to have a high degree of digital literacy.  BUT...I lack passion for it, it’s merely a tool for me. 
I long for pen and paper, could quite happily live without social media and have no interest in gaming whatsoever.  In the workplace though, I couldn’t imagine how I’d function without technology.
Amongst my friends, friend's children, family, children, children’s friends and colleagues, I can’t really think of any exceptions to the Digital Native stereotype. However, I can think of many, like me, who are competent and confident users so don't really fit that Digital Immigrant stereotype. Thus, I'd like to refer to myself as a Digital Citizen.
If used as generalisations, rather than stereotypes, the terms Digital Native and Digital Immigrant are quite apt, although there are a lot of people, like me, who would sit in the middle.  

 I believe that there needs to be a distinction made regarding the type of technology use that is being undertaken. In my experience, the majority of the engagement with technology that is undertaken by students today is from a social/entertainment perspective – eg Snapchat, other messaging apps, Facebook, Instagram, gaming (apps, computer games or Xbox/Playstation etc), YouTube, music and tv/movies. Unless it’s for school (ie educative purposes), they are not word processing, spreadsheeting, researching or creating.  Those classified as Digital Immigrants (or my own classification, Digital citizens) largely use technology for utilitarian purposes – work, home management (eg banking etc) and to a lesser extent, social.  I realise that I am generalising here and it would be interesting to see research on this. 

Technology, from a social/entertainment perspective, is definitely a way of life for our youth, I believe that their literacy with the actual useful (from my perspective), formal aspects of technology is less established.  The problem that I see going forward is how to separate informal and formal use and to focus and educate them on the less glittery aspects of technology; the utilitarian and the educative. Bennett et al (2008) referred to this, saying that there is a lack of critical thinking when using internet related information sources and that “students’ everyday technology practices may not be directly applicable to academic tasks”.  

 As I see it, the teacher’s role has changed in that we are no longer the purveyors of knowledge – knowledge can be found anywhere now, and by anybody. Teachers are largely facilitators, but our role is even more critical than ever in teaching analysis, critical thinking, comprehension, discrimination and what to do with all that information.
References:


     Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786.

     Marc Prensky, (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1, On the Horizon, Vol. 9 Iss: 5, pp.1 – 6






Location: Dubbo NSW 2830, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connectivism and other learning theories - Module 4

At risk of sounding like a fence sitter who is unable to make up my mind, I find that after a lot of reading, note making and watching of videos, I still have one metaphorical foot very firmly rooted in each camp. I don’t think that there is one single theory which can be applied to all forms of learning, for all ages and at all stages, and I strongly believe that at different stages of cognitive development and maturity, there is a place for Behaviourism, Constructivism, Cognitivism and Connectivism. I see that effective teaching, particularly in this ‘digital age’ requires elements of all the major learning theories – with different focuses at different stages of education, and for children with different styles of learning. A simplified definition of a learning theory is provided by Duke, Harper & Johnston (2013) as a theory that provides a description for how learning essentially occurs. The theory of connectivism doesn’t, to me, describe how learning occurs. It descri...
Read more

Module 10: Collaboration

Image
I think that it is important to distinguish between Cooperative learning and collaborative learning as the two are often confused.  Cooperative learning involves classroom techniques that involve students working in pairs or groups to improve or facilitate their learning and includes techniques such as concept mapping and brainstorming, ‘gallery walk’, ‘jigsaw groups’ or ‘expert groups’ (Goodrum & Druhan, 2012).  Collaborative learning occurs when group work is used to build understanding or meaning, to find solutions or to create something. Activities can include writing or art projects, joint problem solving, debates or anything in which students team up or work in groups to explore or create (Oxford, 1997). The way that I want to help students collaborate is with authentic Project Based Learning opportunities, where they investigate a real world problem and as part of this, develop a product, artifact or presentation for a real audience (“What is Project Based Lea...
Read more

Module 9: TPACK and me

Image
As a beginning teacher who is experienced and comfortable with technology, the concept of TPACK seems a bit of a no-brainer; meaning I can’t really imagine planning my lessons any other way.  I suspect that I have good TK, satisfactory CK (Excellent in some areas but will surely need a brushing up in others!) and developing PK, which would place me where the red star is below.  The goal is to increase my PK to get to the yellow star. In the workplace, after setting the goal or target, standard practice for any new project or plan always starts with an assessment of the available resources and, in my eyes, this framework provides a similar approach to teaching.   Identify the goals of your project (ie the lesson or project you want to deliver – and the curriculum outcomes), assess what resources you have first (your TPACK), then identify and address any gaps in order to give your project the greatest chance of success.   Wish it was as easy as it sounds! ...
Read more