October 25th, 2007
Are You a Digital Immigrant?
As technology becomes more firmly entrenched in every part of our daily lives, in many places we’re starting to see a wider gap between those who are “fluent” in the language of technology and those who learn it as a second language, so to speak.
The terms digital native and digital immigrant have begun to float around the academic world and the blogosphere; the former most often refers to the generation now entering college, few of whom have experienced life without the pervasive influence of computers, cell phones and the Internet.
The latter generally covers the rest of us, who might well remember vinyl records, phone books and waiting to meet friends who were running late, and having no idea if they were on their way or had been abducted by aliens.
Educational software designer Marc Prensky claims authorship of the terms, and already faces questions as to whether they are a) offensive, and/or b) accurate. Prensky claims the gap between natives and immigrants has become so wide that teachers in traditional elementary and high schools are handicapped in communicating with their charges–that this year’s crop of kindergarteners speaks a new dialect, and schools must educate their teachers as such. Critics of his approach, including Connectivism, wonder if the divide is really that broad, and if so, why we should be changing schools to accommodate students, rather than, say, educating them in the ways of traditional means of communication.
I’m reminded immediately of the Ebonics debate of the late 1990s, in which the Oakland public school system was lambasted for trying to instruct its teachers in the language of its students. But I also wonder how higher education is going to handle this dichotomy. This year’s freshmen were born in 1989, and so may–just barely–remember life before the World Wide Web. But there won’t be too many more of those students. Should colleges change the way they provide instruction to accommodate these new methods of communication? And if they do, what about the growing population of adult learners on college campuses and online?
The explosion of Internet learning and the evolution of technology as a whole have definitely impacted the way that people view and experience education. People can now discuss topics, turn in assignments, and even view a lecture from London while sitting in a coffee shop somewhere in the arid panhandle of Texas. In my opinion, colleges and universities should embrace this accessbility, and continue to develop both their curricula and their resources to cater to our ever-changing tech-oriented world. However, this should not be done at the expense of traditional campus-based education, which offers invaluable face-to-face encounters with professors and peers — regardless of age. Therefore, if you’re a ‘digital immigrant’, you should definitely attempt to acclimate to the ways of your new computer-based surroundings. The Internet can be a tremendous resource if used properly. If you’re a ‘digital native’, you should definitely embrace your gifts, yet keep in mind that technology is not a ’save-all’ solution, and cannot teach you how to communicate or how to think.
Comment by A. Dupin — October 25, 2007 @ 4:37 pm