Who is a Digital Native? (Monday 6/28)

What is a Digital Native? Who is a Digital Native? 

Does this framing make sense? Does it aid understanding of todays world or does it harm the reality of today's youth?

The Question: What do you make of the (divergent) positions of Boyd and Prensky? Where do you stand on the “digital native” terminology?

Prensky:

Prensky believes that based that age determines experience and proficiency with technology. He characterizes individuals from older generations as "Digital Immigrants" and individuals from recent generations as "Digital Natives." For his time, Prensky brought into discussion what it means to grow up in a technologically advanced world and how this impacts development, thought process, productivity and communication. 

Boyd: 

Boyd unpacks and writes in conversation with Prensky's thinking. Boyd, however, sees the categorization of "Native" and "Immigrant" as being problematic, for many reasons, one of which being the assumption that access to technology directly translates to capability, proficiency and mastery of understanding technology. This is not the case. Boyd says that age alone is not enough to evaluate the quality of digital engagement. 

Quotes that support Boyd's thinking:

• "Many of today's teens are deeply engaged with social media and are active participants in networked publics, but this does not mean that they inherently have the knowledge or skills to make the most of their online experiences (176).

• "The rhetoric of 'digital natives,' far from being useful, is often a distraction to understanding the challenges that youth face in a networked world" (176).

• "In my field, I often found that teens must fend for themselves to make sense of the technologies work and how information spreads" (176).

• "Teens may make their own media or share content online, but this does not mean that they inherently have the knowledge or perspective to critically examine what they consume" (177). 

My Thoughts: In review of both Prensky and Boyd's beliefs on Digital Nativity, I (currently) conclude (and I say currently as this is my first impression) that the term "Digital Natives"centers the experience of "Digital Immigrants" rather than centering the reality of today's world.  While I think there is value in analyzing and comparing the experiences of people who grew up with today's technology and people who have not, I think that the term "Digital Natives" centers the experience of those who have learned technology later in their development and; therefore, perpetuates their discomfort in digital spaces. This lens feels like a "Digital Immigrant" approach to understanding/trying to make sense of the evolution of technology that generalizes all youth experiences and characterizes younger generations by what they have access to rather than what they know and have proficiencies in. I agree with Boyd as she writes, "It is dangerous to assume that youth are automatically informed" (177).  

~ Connection ~

In Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk, "How to escape education's death valley" he states, "The second Principal that drives human life flourishing is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity  in a child, they will lear without any further assistance, very often. Children are natural learners" (Sir Ken Robinson). I believe that this idea relates directly to the acquisition of technology for youth development. If a child is interested and intrigued by technology, they will naturally learn it; however, this is not all children. 

Me: I do not believe that I am fully a Digital Native as defined by Prensky; however on the spectrum of Digital Nativity I certainly fall closer to the experience of Digital Natives. One area that categorizes me as a "Native" is the ways in which I think. I am someone who is a parallel processer, looks to graphics first and has a connected outlook. While I cannot name nor support the role that technology has in the development on my thought process, my thoughts are certainly characterized by connected, parallel processing, and random access. Opposed to the linear processing, step-by-step, stand-alone characteristics of "Digital Immigrant" thought as defined by Prensky.