Digital Natives

Today we will explore the credibility of digital natives and immigrants, and how it affects education. We will determine whether there truly is a great difference between our generations or are all simply experiencing the same battle with digital technologies and of course fairly weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of digital technologies. Hi, my name is Sheryl (aka Shyna) Murti. I am currently undertaking the Bachelor of Education (primary and secondary) at ACU. I love working with children, and doing this course allows me to support my students in many ways and help them enjoy their school experience rather than dread it. I acknowledge all the work contained within the reflective journal is my own, except where appropriately referenced.

Digital natives, a myth or reality? Firstly, let’s have a breakdown of what and who digital natives are; the generation which has grown up side by side with technology, such as the internet, laptops, and social media. On the other hand, we have digital immigrants; a term used to refer to the older generation which only became familiar with digital technology during or after their teen years.

This generation which has grown up embedded into technology may know its way around using various types of technology better than the ‘digital immigrants’, diversely, the immigrants may be more capable than some ‘digital natives' when it comes to navigating their way through technology. Mark Prensky (2001) suggests that the importance of this distinction is that as digital immigrants adapt to their environment, some faster than others, they always, to some extent, retain their “accent” which is their past. Implying that, no matter how familiar they do become with using digital technology, some part of them may always prefer the ‘old-fashioned’ way and for this reason, some educators may prefer the less modern way of teaching.

Digital immigrants assume that this generation is unable to incorporate technology with learning, for example, listening to music while doing work in class or watching tv whilst doing homework, they’ve concluded that natives will be unsuccessful in doing so, simply because they (the immigrants) can’t (Mark Prensky, 2001). On the other hand, (Paul A. Kirschner; Pedro De Bruyckere, 2017) proposes that there is no such thing as digital natives and immigrants, with a heavy emphasis on the importance of making sure we as educators do not place such labels on our students.

 As educators, we should strive for equity, considering that each individual is different, we must not assume that they have digital knowledge based on their age. Prensky conveys that digital natives and immigrants do exist, he believes that today’s teachers must learn to communicate in the language and style of their students (Prensky 2001). Opposing this idea, (Paul A. Kirschner et al 2017) highlights many consequences of assuming that all students are now digital natives and therefore already acquire the skills and abilities when they may not. Furthermore, a study by Kennedy, et al (2009) demonstrated that the ‘Net generation’ or 'digital natives' doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to use the more advanced technology-based tools to increase knowledge (Theodore B. Creighton, 2018).

From the information provided in the various articles, we can infer that digital technology is an important part of the current and future generation's education. As future educators, it is up to us to appropriately and effectively incorporate technology into our student's learning. Whether that may be allowing them to listen to music during private study/ free time or trusting them to be able to do homework whilst watching tv/ listen to music. Our focus should be on providing the best education, not based on assumptions, but aiming to cater to the individual needs of all students using available resources.

References:

Creighton, T. B. (2018, December). ERIC - EJ1200802 - Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Digital Learners: An International Empirical Integrative Review of the Literature, Education Leadership Review, 2018-Dec. Eric. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1200802

 Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816