Digital natives

This is the first post of two, where I will write about ICT in society and work life. The posts are
parts of a course in ICT and learning. Both posts will be about the term digital natives. The first
post will focus on the term digital natives in society, the second will be about digital natives,
learning and education.

Digital natives is a term and concept Marc Prensky first came up with. Similar terms could be
digital children, neo-millenials or 21st century learners. They try to explain how the 21st century
is changing how humans think, act and learn. The change in society also brings change in
humans. I have chosen to use the term digital natives, because it clearly helps us to think about
the difference between age, cultures and the digital revolution. As more and more people become
accustomed to these changes, it may be better to use the term 21st century learners, or digital
wisdom (there are some challenges with the term digital natives which I’ll come back to). But in
my opinion, digital natives is very usable for talking about some of the concepts of the 21st
century and learning. The concept of digital natives is also easy to grasp, even if there may be
some problems in looking at a concept for how children are.

When we talk about digital natives it is common to compare them to digital immgrants. Digital
immigrants are all of us born before 1982. We were raised in a world with TV, radio and
computers with worse graphics than today’s mobiles. The media were low-tech compared to
today’s media, and we didn’t have the rang of different media offers like today. Most of the time
we played outside and inside, using our imagination in real spaces. Learning was physical and
analog. We learnt by talking and reading magazines and books. When reading we got used to a
lot of linear text. One claims that digital immigrants are used to text over graphics and sound, but
growing up with cartoons and eventually computer games (I am 36 and still fairly young, even I
feel old writing this) I am not certain about this. Information from media was controlled and
limited compared to the many multimedia sources of information today. Basically it came from
TV, radio and newspapers besides teachers, friends and family. The information was usually
transmissioned from information centres to the public. That was basically the world digital
immigrants grew up in. But what about the digital natives?

My seven year old daughter is becoming a digital native. When she watches TV she has several
channels to choose from. She can play on one of the two computers and two iPhones and use the
DVD in the living room or in her room. We haven’t got a console yet, but that’s just a matter of
time (we’re thinking about buying Wii after the summer). Digital natives are used to and
surrounded by different kinds of media and communication tools. Compared to digital
immigrants they live in a high-tech world with different media opportunities like Internet and
high-tech games. They like to work fast (Prensky calls it twitch-speed”) and multi-task, for
example by watching TV, texting a message on their mobile and checking Facebook on their
computers at the same time.Digital natives spend many hours each week online where they may
communicate, collaborate, produce, remix and create. They prefer being “the actors” instead of
“the audience”. Digital natives prefer getting instant access to their information when they need
it (“just in time”). The information may be non-linear, they may jump from website to website on
the Internet with their “hypertext minds”. Digital immigrants grew up with information
preliminarily coming from information centres, but digital natives also get information fast from
other individual users (for example blogs) and collectives (for example wikis). They also prefer
images, sounds and videos before text.

An important part of the concept of the digital natives is that digital natives speak the “language”
of the 21st century. They are natives in this world, and can cope with many of the new
challenges. A digital immigrant may adjust to being a native, but most immigrants will always
have an “accent”, which may result to problems adjusting to the new life, and in understanding
the digital natives. A challenge in schools may be that the digital immigrants are teaching the
digital natives, without really understanding the “language”.

There are some problems with the concept of the digital natives, and I would like to name a few
of them in this post:
For a start, all children are different. We know that both multiple intelligences and sociocultural
influence is important for a child’s development. All kids do not fit the digital natives’ concept.
Some are good at using digital media, and some aren’t even that interested. The digital kids
concept shouldn’t develop into a “one shoe fits all”. We can’t and shouldn’t expect kids to be
equal in how they think, act and learn.
Another problem is that many of us who are born before 1982, are very accustomed to using
media. It doesn’t feel like another language, and in my opinion it isn’t either. We have grown up
in a different time, but that doesn’t make us automatically worse at speaking the “new language”.
A final problem is that the concept of the digital native may lure us into thinking that the kids are
better using digital media than they really are. They may be very good at communicating and
texting fast, playing games and creating short videos, but that is not all there is to it. An example
is that being good at using digital media means accessing and evaluating information on the
Internet. In my experience this may be difficult for many children. They may also have the need
for help in using content-related use of digital media, and we can help them here even if we
really are digital immigrants.

Even if there are some problems in the concept of the digital natives, I think the concept is easy
to grasp and tells me more about today’s children and how they think, act and learn.

Finally, a short video on digital natives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18bDUFQoIpU

That was my first post. The next post will be about the digital natives, learning and eucation.
How may the concept influence what we do in school?
Links:
http://depd.wisc.edu/series/06_4168.pdf 08.03.2011
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/NeoMillennial+Learning+styles 08.03.2011
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/Jukes+-+Understanding+Digital+Kids.pdf 08.03.2011
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Understanding+Digital+Children+-+Ian+Jukes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native 08.03.2011
http://tekst2null.blogspot.com/2010/01/kommunikasjonsmnstrene-presentert.html 08.03.2011
http://www.innovateonline.info/pdf/vol5_issue3/H._Sapiens_Digital-
__From_Digital_Immigrants_and_Digital_Natives_to_Digital_Wisdom.pdf 08.03.2011
http://www.marcprensky.com/blog/archives/000045.html 08.03.2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18bDUFQoIpU 08.03.2011