Are they really digital natives?

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Aldrich on September 10, 2007 at 2:41pm

Great question! To me, "digital native" describes a set of experiences that is common among many children, but it's not a badge they get just by having been born in the 1990's. Digital natives, because of their experiences (early, consistent exposure to highly engaging, personal technology), have certain expectations and skill sets, but as you point out it can't be assumed they have an innate ability to master every technological tool or know every website. It's like the Internet is a city they grew up in, but they only hang out at a few places and are only minimally aware of other neighborhoods.

Other children who have not had consistent exposure to the same types of technology are not "digital natives" in my view.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Potter on September 10, 2007 at 2:53pm

Yes! Absolutely. They know myspace and that is it. They can't find anything and feel that the first google result is the right one. Very little critical thinking, little analysis. I'd love to hear some suggestions on how to change this attitude.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Bakin on September 11, 2007 at 3:53pm

If you search for "fake websites" or "evaluating websites" you'll find lot's of resources that you can use to introduce the idea that there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. Here's one resource that provides tools for determining if a website is from a valid source. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

Here's another one: http://www.iccb.state.il.us/student/pdf/resource/web_lit.pdf written by Judy Salpeter that apparently originally appeared in Technology and Learning Magazine.

It's not only kids, I just read about a couple of tourists who tried to find a bunch of fake tourist attractions because they had visited a site http://city-mankato.us/ that was created back in 1996 by a professor trying to teach students about the same topic. In a story dated August 22, 2007 the Mankato Freepress tells the story of the unfortunate pair. http://www.mankato-freepress.com/local/local_story_234002321.html

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on September 10, 2007 at 3:39pm

Great discussion topic, Amy.

I think they are digital natives--in the sense that my kids know how to handle electronics in a natural way that means they will never be accused of "not knowing how to program the VCR." And I think you are also right--that their knowledge tends to be surface-level, and not very broad. I learned this while teaching a Web 2.0 class to my kids and their friends. They can figure out how to send a photo from their cell phone to someone else, but that doesn't mean they know the first thing about how it is done.

And so, for me, their "nativity" manifests itself in approaching technology with more of a willingness to integrate these tools into their lives than their parents or grandparents have. But they 1) need to learn how to drill deeper and learn more, and 2) need to help in understanding that you can have an abundance of information and options, but getting at the truth and communicating with clarity are still hard work.

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Permalink Reply by Mathew Needleman on September 10, 2007 at 4:50pm

As a digital native myself, I think digital native is more of a reference to the way our brains work than an ability to use a specific tool e.g. we think of using technology tools organically to fill needs we have.

It's the same as native speakers of a foreign language. I can speak Spanish but I do have to think first in English and then translate into Spanish. A digital native thinks first in technology without that translation. That said, there are times when the Spanish just flows out of me (not often enough but it does happen) and I'm sure that there are times when you think of using technology automatically even if you didn't grow up with it.

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Permalink Reply by Ed Jones on September 14, 2007 at 9:44am

The term may have more to do with attention span.... :-)

But let's go back to learning modalities. If I'm a kinetic/audio learner, the web may be a great place to expand relationships and explore music, but blogs and wikis not such a great thing.

I know a lot of adults (including teachers) who still see email as an incoming service, with the added function of occasionally forwarding something funny, gross, or heart wrenching. For these people, just returning a "thanks" or "message received" seems beyond their consideration. )Often, my digital native nephews seem to fall in this category as well).

Also, digital native isn't entirely a good thing. I can use the web as a research tool because I have explored huge sections of the 4 million volume U.Ill. library, with its Dewey and L.O.C. categorization. Exploring and learning categoires via the web isn't always so easy.

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Permalink Reply by Lucia Mourelle on December 15, 2008 at 1:48pm

Thanks, Mathew
I completly agree with your opinions and I also agree with Steve about their superficiality, they can have a poor vocabulary on this language but they are native speakers!no accent when they speak!
Un abrazo desde Buenos Aires!
Lucia

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Martinez on September 10, 2007 at 9:11pm

The digital native/digital immigrant labels have been used for a couple of years now and I think they do as much harm as good. Thinking of kids as digital natives is just used an excuse to not use technology in the classroom. And being a "digital immigrant" was an easy excuse for not a teacher not to learn technology. I think those days are over!

Kids need adults to guide them to use these tools wisely, and for appropriate academic purposes. A teacher can take them further and faster. Kids are less afraid of technology, and don't usually worry about breaking things, but this doesn't translate to intellectual curiousity. They are just used to having technology around, but also more than willing to just ignore it when it isn't immediately obvious what to do with it.

We adults tend to want to find a use for anything and everything, or worry that we aren't doing something "right." I don't think that has anything to do with technology, and is certainly not new to this generation.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on September 10, 2007 at 9:51pm

As usual, Sylvia weighs in with some real wisdom. :)

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Permalink Reply by Alex Savage on September 11, 2007 at 2:19am

Spot on Sylvia!
My students claim to be digital natives, but when you start asking them about how much they use rss feeds, social bookmarking, collaboration tools and even downloading podcasts you begin to realise how limited their use of the internet really is.
I totally agree that teachers have a new and significant role to play in guiding students in how to use these tools more effectively to find better quality information on the web.
We also need to teach them about how to present themselves and their ideas better. I've started putting up edublog posts on various issues and invited students to share their ideas as moderated comments. If you'd like to see an example go to http://notreblog.edublogs.org/category/film-reviews/

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Robitaille on September 11, 2007 at 4:19am

Hi Amy. I am also amazed at times when I introduce new concepts to my students, such as blogs and wikis, only to have blank stares when I explain this new technology. Like you, I thought they knew this stuff already. I thought they ran home and did it all the time. We're wrong, though. They do run home and visit MySpace. They do program their iPods, play with their game consoles and generally engage a lot with technology. But their use of technology is mostly entertainment based. Unless we're talking Runescape or ringtones, the technology we teach our students about in schools may very well be new to them. I accept this now and also realize that I am in a role to teach them how to engage in collaborative, online technologies in productive, academic ways. These digital natives always will need quality teachers to guide them along their journey. We haven't become obsolete yet!

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Permalink Reply by William Kelly on September 11, 2007 at 5:51am

Amy and all who have commented,

This is a great question and one that I've struggled with too. I believe there is a difference between how we label a group and what the implications are. "Digital Natives" is a useful designation if it is simply about understanding that they view the world differently than non-Digital Natives. But when we assign value to that (i.e. "They're Digital Natives, so they know a lot more than we do" or "They're DNs so they're a lot better at using technology than we are, and don't need any extra help") then we're taking the designation too far.

My colleague here at Learning.com, Dr. Barclay Burns likes to use the Lord of the Flies analogy -- you can't just expect kids to run amok on an island and create an effective, productive society. There is something vital that the adults (and especially teachers) in these kids' lives can bring,.

Mathew's reference to native language speakers is exactly right. I use the same analogy when I'm trying to get this point across about DNs -- you might be a native English speaker (i.e. that is the language spoken in your home and how you've come to think about and reference the world around you), but that doesn't mean you're an effective communicator. We have 12+ years of instruction designed to help you utilize your native English abilities to become an effective communicator, and some of us spend decades after school trying to refine it.

In my mind, literacy in technology and information is not the same as Digital Nativeness. They can speak it, but they need our help in securing the meta-cognitive frameworks and strategies for effectively deploying it and being truly creative with it.

Thanks for starting this thread.

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