Digital Immigration
The term 'Digital Immigration' is coined by a man called Marc Prensky. He believed that today's students have evolved from traditional educational structures and are now more dependent on digital technology as a source of learning then ever before. Prensky described that people could be split into two categories:
Digital Natives - Prensky used this name for the 'new students' of society that are extremely literate in the new digital 'language' of today. They have detailed knowledge in new media technology such as computers and the internet.
Digital Immigrants - This term is used for people who were not born into this technological age and therefore do not have the detailed knowledge to use things such as the internet, etc. This older generation of people slowly pick up the skills to use new media technology as they wouldn't be able to function in today's lifestyle very well otherwise, but the older methods of gaining information often come first and then the internet is their second choice.
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
4 comments:
Lauren,
This reads as a very clear concise post, with the sensible use of subheadings.
Could you relate to any of this personally? Which category would you say you most likely fit into? Do you have any friends or relatives who seem to fit into a contrasting category to yourself?
All the best
Emma
I would say I'm a digital native, as probably are most people of our age and even more so on out course.
I would say my parents are digital immigrants who have adapted well to technology, so although it took my mum a while to understand how to text, it's now much more natural.
But then if we looked at some of our grandparents who maybe don't have mobiles or maybe just own them for emergencies but don't have a clue how to work them.
So can digital immigrants be divided into more categories such as those immigrants who adapt well to technological advances and those who don't???
I can see what your saying alyson coz my grandparents are both digital immigrants but i would say are different from each other. As my nan is trying to adapt to new technology and so has a mobile which she occasionally texts me on (always in capitals with no full stops lol), and she bought a computer and got the internet which she uses to email her friends. However, my grandad is very negative towards this new technology and in some ways resents it being in his house. But he does enjoy having 'Sky Plus' as he can record the cricket when hes not there lol. So i definatly think the term digital immigrants could be sub-categorised.
I think i most likely fit into being a digital native mostly because of the generation i've been born into and the high use of technology on a daily basis, not because i'm extremely interested in new technology.
I can totally relate to what you are saying here lauren. My granparents are exactly the same which proves evidence that there is reason to split digital immigrants into further categories.
My grandparents and parents would both be initially listed in the digital immigrant section. My grandparents use technology very sparcely as my gran has a mobile that she only turns on when she needs to use it (which i dont see the point as we can never therefore get a hold of her!). My grandad hardly ever use new found technology and if her ever needs anything from the internet me or my sister have to do it for him!Whereas my parents are slightly more hands on when it comes to this sort of technology and are able to understand it a bit more as they do both regularly use the internet, mobile phones, etc. Although following on from laurens comment about her grandad, my mum sometimes has difficulty when using sky plus!
Therefore although there is a definate divide between digital natives and digital immigrants i do think that there needs to be sub-categories labelled as nothing is black and white.
Post a Comment