Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

In picture we can see children different ages engaging in technology. As children in this generation are getting older they learn to use more complicated technology. 

In class, we discussed about the terms digital immigrants and digital natives. What are the differences between the two? According to DeGraff (2014) digital natives is a generation of people who were born or raised with digital technology.  As to digital immigrants are individuals who are slowly adapting to the world of digital technology, these include grandparents, parents, teachers, and those before them.

Digital immigrants may have been the ones who invented technology that digital native used but they did not understand the use of them (Degraff 2014). Today we can see that students who have been growing in the digital native generation all spent their lives surrounded by using technology, such as computers, video games, cell phones, and other digital devices (Prensky, 2001). Its evident that individuals today “think and process information fundamentally different” (2001) from digital immigrants.

There are some controversial thoughts from digital immigrant teachers, as they do not believe that their students can learn through using technology because it did not work for them. Since these teachers were not raised in a digital world it is difficult for them to adapt to the changes the accessibility that technology can provide digital natives. Digital natives have been practicing this skill constantly as technology is a norm for their generation (Prensky, 2001). It is understandable that it is difficult for digital immigrants to fully integrate them in a new world, but it is also difficult for digital natives to turn backwards and follow traditional learning strategies.

What can digital natives teach digital immigrants? (DeGraff, 2014)

• To collaborate across boundaries, with a variety of people
• To make a place in life for values
• To build solutions that are horizontal

What can digital immigrants teach digital natives? (2014)

• To achieve goals quickly
• To use focused resources in building things to scale
• To revitalize or repurpose existing institutions

There is an irony that children who are digital natives in this generation will eventually become digital immigrants. It is how the world works (Degraff, 2014). For example, today’s fashion has been brought back from the past generations. Life is a full circle, when something becomes new it will become old over time as newer things come along.

Reference

DeGraff, J. (2014). Digital natives vs. digital immigrants. Huffingtonpost. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-degraff/digital-natives-vs-digita_b_5499606.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, vol. 9, 5. MCB University Press. Retrieved from

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-

%20Part1.pdf

Unplag Team. (2015). Digital immigrants’ vs digital natives: closing the gap. Unplag. Retrieved from

https://unplag.com/blog/digital-immigrants-vs-digital-natives/