Hi there readers and welcome back to another week of Sully's Moments! Today I will be discussing Prensky and Kirchners thoughts on what a digital native is, and a myth about being digitally literate. Let's dive on in!
First I will be talking about Prensky and what a digital native is according to him. A digital native are individuals who have grown up in an era dominated by digital technology such as computer and the internet, and therefore are comfortable and skilled using them. So people born after the 1980's are likely to be digital natives, and if you were born before that you are more likely to be a digital immigrant. A digital immigrant are individuals who were born before the digital age and adapted to technology later in life. I would fall into the digital native group because I was born after the 80's, and i've been surrounded by technology my entire life. Being a digital native has impacted my learning by making it more accessible and easier with all of the outlets like computers and cellphones. Using technology allows me to use one of the most powerful tools for school, the internet. Having access to this kind of tool helps not only speed up the learning time and allows me to find many resources at the click of a button.
Now I will be talking about some of Kirchners myths associated with Prensky's findings on how being a 'digital native' doesn't actually mean that one is 'digitally literate'. Prensky made a claim that assumes digital natives are automatically good at using technology because they grew up surrounded by technology. Kirschner argues that this statement is not true. She argues that being familiar with technology doesn't mean you know how to use it effectively, and that people even if they are a digital native, still need to be trained and taught on how to effectively use technology. A personal example i've seen of this are other students in my classes and how they use technology in my classes. Most students use and know to operate social media platforms properly, but then when it comes to using another tool like excel, they have no idea what they are doing and struggle to use this tool. This proves Kirchners point on how people born as a 'digital native' still have to be taught and trained skills on how to use technology effectively in this era.
Therefore, we do not necessarily know how to use technology just because we were born into it. It requires patience, practice, and some direction. That concludes this weeks blog! See you on Sully's Moments next week!
Sources:
Kirschner, Paul A., and Pedro De Bruyckere. "The Myths of the Digital Native and the Multitasker."
Teaching and Teacher Education, vol. 67, 2017, pp. 135–142. Elsevier,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001
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