Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives

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This week we learned about Marc Prensky’s concept of "digital immigrants” and "digital natives"—or individuals born before the age of digital technology versus individuals born concurrently—and how this influences each group’s manner of approaching life and learning.

Specifically, in his work, Prensky mentions that students' thinking patterns have changed. How have they changed, and what are some examples of this?

Prensky asserts that Digital Native students' process information differently than their Digital Immigrant forebears. For instance, Digital Natives take in information more speedily. They prefer multitasking, random access, rewards, instant gratification, and visual graphics before reading. Because of this, Prensky upholds that if Digital Immigrant teachers do not institute new ways of educating Digital Natives, the students’ education will suffer. 

 

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 On the other hand, there is an opposing viewpoint to Prensky's findings by Paul Kirschner and Pedro Bruyckere. They declaim that Digital Natives' thought patterns have not changed and to think so is, in a way, giving them more credit than is logical. 

One of the myths Kirschner and Bruyckere discuss is that being a "digital native" doesn't necessarily mean one is "digitally literate." What does this mean? 

In essence, Kirschner and Bruyckere argue that digital skills—just as any other skill or subject—must be taught before a proficiency in it might be developed. To assume that a Digital Native might be—in effect—a “tech genius” simply because they were born in the age of digital technology is detrimental to their educational health, and they feel new teaching methods based on this assumption impedes learning. 

 

After considering both viewpoints, I feel that each paper has merit. For example, being raised in a digital world will likely promote the formation of new thinking patterns and preferences as Prensky mentions. Nevertheless, I consider Kirschner and Bruyckere to be accurate in that people are not born tech-savvy and must be taught digital skills along with all the other skills needed in life. From there, I think an individual's access to, practice of, and inclination for digital technology then determines their amount of digital literacy.

 

 

Works Cited:

Kirschner, Paul A., and Pedro De Bruyckere. “The Myths of the Digital Native and the Multitasker.” Teaching and Teacher Education, October 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001. 

Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon, October 2001, www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.