OPINIONS ON DIGITAL NATIVES AND DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS (MOD#11)
One of the videos that I watched stated that "digital natives" are those who were born after 1980 and those who are "digital immigrants are those born prior to 1980. Based on this assumption, I should be considered a "digital native," as I was born in 1990, but I'm not really sure if it is that black and white. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, I feel that the digital age was in its infancy. When I was a little kid, the internet was just becoming accessible and I was still playing 16-bit video games. The digital world was still basic.
However, nowadays, many people are being born into a world where WIFI is the norm and video games are rendered in near real life graphics with high tech virtual reality gaming coming into prominence. Even though I am a digital native, I feel that many elementary school aged children are actually more capable than me when it comes to technological know how. In this sense, I think "1st generation" and "2nd generation digital natives" would be more accurate labels for those born after 1980.
This is not to say that I am frustrated when it comes to trying to use unfamiliar technology. I'd say that one important quality of being a "digital native" is that we are resilient to being overwhelmed by how things work. We are quite good at teaching ourselves how to use technological devices, whereas my mother has to read the entire user manual and my father just gives up and does everything the traditional way 1800s style.
I think what separates us 1st generation "digital natives" from 2nd generation "digital natives" is that we are okay doing things the technological way or the traditional way, whereas the 2nd generation seems to demand doing things the technological way exclusively.
My personal problem with technology is not using it, but rather the fact that it is developing and changing too quickly. It's quite difficult to keep up as it seems like just as you've learned to use something, something else new immediately comes out to replace it. With something else new coming out so frequently, it's difficult to judge if it's actually worth my time. New technological devices are expensive on top of that, so keeping up with technology is very costly. In my opinion, I feel it is wise to keep up with technology out of need rather than out of want. If I don't need it or if it doesn't significantly help me, then it's best not to have it.
As for the videos and articles, there is nothing that I really disagree with. A lot of it is what I've been hearing for a while now about those that grew up with technology and why technology integration is important in our classrooms. The psychological and neurological science behind how technology affects our brains is very interesting.
One thing that I agree with in particular was from this video that shared the idea that "digital immigrants" cannot be like digital natives in the sense that they can become fluent with technology. "digital natives" just seem to have an innate intuition while using technology that grants us fluency and allows us to overcome obstacles in its usage. "digital immigrants" seem to lack this intuition. Every time I use Skype with my mother, I always have to remind her of how to open up links to videos or pictures that I send her. Simple obstacles to me seem like Mt. Everest sized obstacles to her. Many times she'll give up when I try to show her how to do something new on the computer if it's too quote-unquote complicated. There doesn't seem to be that resilience to becoming overwhelmed by how things work among "digital immigrants."
Since technology is advancing so quickly, maybe by the time I am middle aged, they'll have coined a term for people born prior to 2020. In that case, I will be the "new digital immigrant."
One of the videos that I watched stated that "digital natives" are those who were born after 1980 and those who are "digital immigrants are those born prior to 1980. Based on this assumption, I should be considered a "digital native," as I was born in 1990, but I'm not really sure if it is that black and white. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, I feel that the digital age was in its infancy. When I was a little kid, the internet was just becoming accessible and I was still playing 16-bit video games. The digital world was still basic.
However, nowadays, many people are being born into a world where WIFI is the norm and video games are rendered in near real life graphics with high tech virtual reality gaming coming into prominence. Even though I am a digital native, I feel that many elementary school aged children are actually more capable than me when it comes to technological know how. In this sense, I think "1st generation" and "2nd generation digital natives" would be more accurate labels for those born after 1980.
I think what separates us 1st generation "digital natives" from 2nd generation "digital natives" is that we are okay doing things the technological way or the traditional way, whereas the 2nd generation seems to demand doing things the technological way exclusively.
My personal problem with technology is not using it, but rather the fact that it is developing and changing too quickly. It's quite difficult to keep up as it seems like just as you've learned to use something, something else new immediately comes out to replace it. With something else new coming out so frequently, it's difficult to judge if it's actually worth my time. New technological devices are expensive on top of that, so keeping up with technology is very costly. In my opinion, I feel it is wise to keep up with technology out of need rather than out of want. If I don't need it or if it doesn't significantly help me, then it's best not to have it.As for the videos and articles, there is nothing that I really disagree with. A lot of it is what I've been hearing for a while now about those that grew up with technology and why technology integration is important in our classrooms. The psychological and neurological science behind how technology affects our brains is very interesting.
One thing that I agree with in particular was from this video that shared the idea that "digital immigrants" cannot be like digital natives in the sense that they can become fluent with technology. "digital natives" just seem to have an innate intuition while using technology that grants us fluency and allows us to overcome obstacles in its usage. "digital immigrants" seem to lack this intuition. Every time I use Skype with my mother, I always have to remind her of how to open up links to videos or pictures that I send her. Simple obstacles to me seem like Mt. Everest sized obstacles to her. Many times she'll give up when I try to show her how to do something new on the computer if it's too quote-unquote complicated. There doesn't seem to be that resilience to becoming overwhelmed by how things work among "digital immigrants."Since technology is advancing so quickly, maybe by the time I am middle aged, they'll have coined a term for people born prior to 2020. In that case, I will be the "new digital immigrant."
My mother called me once from New Mexico to tell me that her Internet wasn't working. She wanted me to help her fix it. I couldn't help but laugh at the idea that she called Buffalo to get her WiFi working again. I like the idea of the 1st and 2nd gen digital natives. It is a big age range, so it makes sense that there would be some divides. My brother was born in 1979 and my sister 4 years later. He is a digital native, no doubt, but she is way ahead of him. Makes sense to have distinctions.
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