Digital+Immigrants,+Digital+Natives


 * Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives **
 * dig **** · **** i **** ·tal **** im **** ·mi· **** grant ** [dij-i-tl im-i-gr//uh//nt] //–noun// : An individual who was already using older media when the new forms of //and Communication Technology// (ICT) were introduced, requiring them to adapt or be left behind.


 * dig **** · **** i **** · **** tal na **** · **** tive ** [dij-i-tl ney-tiv] //–noun// : An individual who grew up using the new forms of //Information and Communication Technology// (ICT) as their primary media.



In 2001, the terms “digital immigrant” and “digital native” were first introduced by Marc Prensky, an American author, consultant and designer for education and learning.[1] Prensky argued that the rapid advance and dissemination of digital technology in the last decades of the 20th Century had created a generational gap unlike any ever experienced before.[2] On one side of the gap were the “Baby Boomers” (born between 1946 and 1964) and “Generation X” (born between 1965 and 1976).[3] On the other side of the vast technological divide were their children: “The Baby Boom Echo.” [4] According to Kurt Eisele-Dyrli of //District Administration Magazine//, that new generation now “thinks, works and learns in a very different way from the previous generations.” [5]

As technology continues to be developed at a rapid pace, each new year of students that teachers encounter are more deeply embedded in the digital culture. Before a modern youth has left his childhood home for post-secondary education, he has played over 10,000 hours of video games, sent and received over 200,000 emails and instant messages, and talked on his cell phone for over 10,000 hours. [6] He is a “native speaker” of digital technology.[7] The previous generation, who learned to operate on older technology, adapts to the new requirements of the digital world as though learning a second language. [8] American technologist, David Weinberger illustrates the profound difference between these two groups: “I’m perpetually amazed by the Internet; they [Digital Natives] take it for granted. I’m crazy in love with it; for them, that’d be like being in love with air.” [9]

What can we, both as teachers and Digital Immigrants, do about bridging the generational gap? Click on __Digital Natives in the Classroom__ to see what we have to learn, and what we can still teach to the next generation.

[1] Mark Prensky, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” //On the Horizon//, 9:5 (October, 2001), 1 [2] Prensky, (October, 2001), 1 [3] Don Tapscott, //Grown Up Digital: how the net generation is changing your world// (New York: McGraw-Hill Books, 2009), 11 [4] Ibid. [5] Kurt Eisele-Dyrli, “Educating Digital Natives,” District Administration, 45:10 (2009), 25 [6] Mark Prensky, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really //Think// Differently?” //On the Horizon//, 9:6 (December, 2001), 1 [7] Prensky, (October, 2001), 1 [8] Ibid. [9] David Weinberger, “Digital Natives, Immigrants, and Others” //KM World//, 17:1 (2008), 24
 * all graphics are the original work of the author