You might be a digital native if . . . Not so fast.

Labels are great ways to organize. They help us to  store messy things in neat packages. Labels are great for files and boxes, but not so great for people.

Jeff Foxworthy used our love of labels to build a comedy brand: “You might be a Red-Neck if . . .” Now, my sons might be Red-Necks. They hunt and fish. We have a growing deer head collection instead of fine art in my living room. However, this label of “Redneck” limits the description of these intelligent young men who have a range of skills and abilities. In the same way, labeling them as digital natives because they fit the age range is also too simple.

My sons know how to play on the internet and find items to buy. They can post on Facebook and text with amazing dexterity, but they do not know how to search beyond Google or how to create a multimodal presentation beyond Power Point.

Some academics embraced the ill-fitting label of “digital native” to the point of following Prensky’s panicked advice to change education. However, Eszter Hargittai in her article,”Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the ‘Net Generation’” suggests:

My concern is that by embracing the ill-defined notion of “digital natives,” those who teach this generation (and subsequent generations) will assume levels of expertise and experience–among all of their students–that simply don’t exist in such an evenly distributed way. As a result, opportunities for teaching critical skills will be lost.

Labels used on groups of people are not definitive. Prensky defined digital natives as those born after 1980. The techno-blog, Websimple simplifies the generalization: “Why the 1980 demarcation? Why not 1990? Why not 2004 (the year Facebook launched)?  What about all those super-users over the age of 30, or the technophobic twenty-year-olds?” Labels limit – especially if they are misplaced.

Digital native may be a 65 year-old professor who knows more about writing in the digital environment than her 18 year-old first year student. The “younger generation” may be more comfortable with technology, but they may also lack digital literacy of someone older.

Just for the fun of it from Websimple:

“You might be a digital native if . . . ”

• If you have ever texted someone to come to dinner who was in the next room…you might be a digital native.
• If you think flirting should be done in 140 characters…you might just be a digital native.
• If you ever have uttered the phrase “I wonder if there’s an app for that?”… you might be a digital native.
• If you check your phone instead of your wrist for the time…you might be a digital native.
• If you get more “wall posts” than post cards on your birthday . . .might be a digital native.
• If you use acronyms like OMG and LOL, even when you are talking to someone…you might be a digital native.
• If you have ever checked to see if you’re in a relationship by looking at someone’s Facebook status….you might be a digital native.

Must Education Change for Digital Natives?

Students born roughly between 1980 and 1994 were saddled with the moniker “digital natives” by Marc Prensky.  There are other descriptions of this generation as collaborative, optimistic, multitaskers, team-oriented achievers and talented with technology.

The Digital Native Debate has two claims: Digital natives exist and education must change to meet their needs. This unique group, according to the proponents of the digital native theory are not getting their needs met by the current educational system. Prensky says, “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”

Watch this You Tube promoted on Prensky’s You Tube Channel:

The second assumption is that digital natives “think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” Multi-tasking is given as an example. While students can listen to music, text, watch television and do homework is not a proof of higher intelligence. In fact, multi-tasking and multi-processing may result in concentration loss and overload according to Rubinstein as reported in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: “Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching.”

Prensky’s Panic Button

Marc Prensky pushed a ‘moral panic’ button in 2001 when he published, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.”  Prensky warns, “This is not just a joke.  It’s very serious, because the single  biggest problem facing education today is that  our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.”

However, others propose a more “measured and disinterested approach.” In the British Journal of Educational Technology, the authors of “The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence” question the claims about the digital native designation and the implications for education.

The debate over designating those born between 1980 and 1994 as “Digital Natives” is over the main claims made by Prensky:

1. There is a distinct generation of digital natives
2. Education must fundamentally change to meet the needs of digital natives.

The opposition says these claims have “weak empirically and theoretical foundations.” The authors of “The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence” summarize the main assumptions about the “Natives:”

• Young people of the digital native generation possess sophisticated knowledge of and skills with information technologies.
• As a result of their upbringing and experiences with technology, digital natives have particular learning preferences or styles that differ from earlier generations of students.

Researchers have discovered that while students were immersed and connected to technology only 21% were involved in creating web content using multimedia. The student’s technology skills were generally lower than might be expected of digital natives. In another finding, the researchers did not find technology experience and skill-sets were not universal among “digital natives.”

In the same way, “digital immigrants” are not all inept as Prensky might suggest. If that were true, how would you explain Steve Jobs and Bill Gates?

“Digital Natives”: A term coined by Marc Prensky – An idea pushed by Josh Spear

Digital Natives according to blogger Jeremy Mims is a term, “coined by Marc Prensky in 2001 and popularized by Josh Spear about five years later (likely with the best intentions).” Mims cuts through the jargon: “But really, it’s just being used as a catch-all demographic for young people, and a way for people who don’t actually understand technology to sling bullshit in sales meetings to those who know even less.”

Meet Josh Spear, the “trendspotter”:

Meet Marc Prensky:

 

 

“Digital Native”and “Digital Immigrants” Terms that Say Nothing

Honestly, I was offended when my writing hand was slapped for using the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant” in a graduate discussion post. I felt it was political correctness rising up, once again, demanding re-wording as not to offend. After reviewing the literature and subscribing to Google Scholar Alert for the terms: “digital native” and “digital immigrant” my thoughts have changed on this topic. Instead of being loaded with socially unacceptable terms, saying that someone is a “digital native” or a “digital immigrant” is not really saying much at all.

According to Russell Stannard in his podcast challenges these terms used to describe a generation. From Marc Prensky we have his original definition of these terms.

I’ve coined the term digital native to refer to today’s students (2001). They are native speakers of technology, fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet. I refer to those of us who were not born into the digital world as digital immigrants. We have adopted many aspects of the technology, but just like those who learn another language later in life. We retain an “accent” because we still have one foot in the past. We will read a manual, for example, to understand a program before we think to let the program teach itself. Our accent from the pre-digital world often makes it difficult for us to effectively communicate with our students.

(Education Leadership)

Prensky’s use of “digital native” and “digital immigrant” has been creating an academic debate. Stannard suggests that Prensky is saying very little.

Russell Stannard is the winner of the British Council ELTons 2010 and Times Higher ICT award in 2008. He writes, tweets and podcasts about technology in ELT. He writes “Webwatcher” and manages the website: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com. Stannard says, those who grew up in the digital-age are “happier and less afraid about technology” than those who had to learn it. However, this does not make the “digital native” able to write a blog or post clear web content. In the same way, those who had to learn the technology and were not born into it can write effective web content and learn new tools quickly.

I have three sons. All would be considered “digital natives” in this discussion. It is easier to talk to my 22-year old on Google Talk or Facebook chat than catching him on the phone and quicker than waiting for him to check his email. When he asked me how to create a PDF file I was shocked. He was in graduate school, just like me and unable to scan and create a PDF.

My youngest son carries his iphone everywhere and seldom picks up my laptop. Instead he texts, chats and “Facebooks” everything. When he was designing a brochure in MS Publisher, he was stumped. He could not design a simple desk-top publication without my assistance. They may not be afraid of technology, but they have much to learn.

People my age often apologize for their lack of techno-savvy. However, once they over come the anxiety, they learn quickly and find many tools more effective than the old way of doing things.

Stannard suggests that the great “digital Native vs. digital Immigrant” debate is deflecting the discussion away from the core issue. He is saying that these terms are saying nothing because, “The real issue is about pedagogy and using technology because it is underpinning what we understand about language.” He explains using technology for writing instruction is about motivation and processing information. Web writing is developing language “within a context that makes it understandable.”

Listen to this podcast by Russell Stannard:
http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf