The Immigrant/Native Divide

    There is a divide amongst individuals due to the increased prevalence, and at times necessity, of the digital world. We have gotten to a point where it has become an integrated part of most people's lives. The issue lies in those who did not grow up in the online age. For some, it is harder to understand the importance of this integration into our lives.

     To be a digital native is to be one who has grown up in the digital age. Most of what has been known has included the internet, computers, cell phones, and video games. The world is at our fingertips, so to say. This has made communication quicker and more easily accessible with options like e-mail and texting. It has also changed the way people learn. No longer do we need to go to the library, search the catalogs for books and resources, and flip through pages to find the information we need. Professors don't need to write notes on a chalkboard as they lecture, while we quickly try to copy the information before it's erased to make room for new information. Digital natives have grown up with computers and access to the internet. We are now able to use sites, like Google.com, to look up anything we want. Even if you don't know the answer to a question, someone else probably has, and that information is available online. If you're struggling with something in class or have a problem, you can e-mail your teacher for help. Students from around the world can learn from each other, bridging different cultures and experiences in education. We wouldn't be sitting here writing these blog posts to share if it weren't for the digital world we now live in. It has become essential in many people's lives. Due to growing up this way, students today "think and process information fundamentally different from their predecessors." (Prensky, Ch.5) They are used to the fast-paced digital world, where information is accessed quickly and communication can be instant. 

    While the increased popularity of our digital world has had many positive impacts on digital natives, those who did not grow up in the digital age, those called digital immigrants, have more struggles learning how to navigate this new environment. It is very much like learning a whole new language, and while some embrace it and want to learn, others have a harder time. Where the divide between digital natives and digital immigrants occurs is when there is a lack of understanding between the two. To not understand how to operate in a world where most everyone and everything is online will make it difficult to communicate effectively. Now that all of this technology has been so engrained into our world, it is not likely that we will ever go back to when it wasn't. Digital immigrants need to understand this to effectively teach and support students who have only ever known this way of life. "Today's teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students." (Prensky, Ch.5) 

    In thinking about what Prensky wrote, I find myself to be more of a digital immigrant. I did not grow up with a cell phone or a computer, and there was no internet in my home. We didn't even have an answering machine. When I went to school we used the library quite often for research papers, skimming hundreds of pages to find what we needed for our reports. I had to wait until I saw my teachers at school to try to ask them a question, typically during the couple minutes they might be able to spare before or after class. When I was around eleven years old my family got our first computer. We were all excited and fought to be able to use it, but at that time all I did was play the game "Minesweeper" and make pictures on a paint program. Even as an adult, I get messages from my children, who are digital natives, and I don't always understand their jargon. They can hook up a game system, download programs, navigate websites, and seem to use some foreign lingo when they text each other. Although I am learning and actively try, I still struggle to do these things, and it takes me much more time. I am an e-campus student at Oregon State University, restarting classes after taking a break for over ten years. The hardest thing for me to navigate with coming back was figuring out the digital aspects of everything. Some of the subjects and materials covered are things that have been taught again and again, but the way that it is taught is much different now than it used to be. 

    Yes, there is a divide. But bridging that gap is possible. Over time it will become less and less as more digital immigrants learn to use the online world to their advantage. In generations to come, we will get to a point where all people are digital natives.

    

Prensky, M. (2012). From digital natives to digital wisdom: hopeful essays for 21st century learning. Corwin. Chapter 5: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants