As a member of Generation Y, I would say I am more
of a digital native than a digital immigrant. However, as an older GenY and someone
who hated computers in high school, I was someone who had to pick up and get
along with a lot of technology as a young adult. For example, I did not have a
cell phone (or a car) until after I graduated high school. In “Digital Natives,
Digital Immigrants,” Prensky (2001) makes the distinction between digital
natives and digital immigrants using the metaphor of learning a language.
Digital natives are those in younger generations who have grown up around the
technology of the Electronic Revolution and have an innate understanding and “native”
command of the language of technology. Digital immigrants, on the other hand,
did not grow up with such technology and had to learn it in their older years;
immigrants have a “foreign accent” when it comes to the language of technology.
I had to laugh at some of Prensky’s pieces of evidence of digital immigrants’
accents: until literally a month ago, I was printing out all my articles to
edit them with pen and highlighter until someone told me that the latest version
of Adobe Reader and Pro have a highlighter and text adding option. I have also
done the “Did you get my email?” phone call. After reading that, I thought that
you could just use a digital receipt request when you send it. I think we are
also supposed to assume that if an email says “Sent” in our sent mail, the
other person got it. A technical difficulty could make this untrue, but I
imagine that is rare. I have had text messages, however, send from my phone a
lot, and even though it said “Sent” the person I sent it to never got it.
That
being said, I would say I have overcome my aversion to technology. I am in the
IT field, and I also use my laptop and the Internet and a myriad of software to
write, do research, design artwork, take my classes, and much more. My learning
style is at least partially reflected in Dede’s (2005) description of a “neomillenial
style of learning,” particularly the fluency in multi-media environments,
communal learning, and “expression through nonlinear, associated webs of
representation” (p. 7). I used to be much more reluctant to embrace new
technology and gadgets, but that is starting to change. I am starting to
preview new software and getting a little bit of that “hafta have the latest”
bug. I recently installed the Windows 8 Customer Preview, and decided to write
a review about it, which I might post here. The use of technology has changed
everything about the way I learn. When I was in high school, I still did most
of my research in books with perhaps one or two web resources. Now I almost
never step foot in a physical library anymore. I can make the trip virtually
and find almost any article I need. Things are changing very fast, and it is an
interesting time to be alive.
References
Dede, C. (2005). Planning for
neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 1, 7–12.
Prensky,
M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).Molnar, A.
(1997). Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives,
digital immigrants part II: Do they really think differently?,
On the Horizon, 9(6).
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