Blog 2 Digital natives and Immigrants

 The perspective that one needs to be either a digital native, immigrant, resident, or visitor lacks nuance and the answer will depend on the definition. In research by Prensky, digital immigrants are defined by those who don't believe that their students can learn while watching television or listening to music (2001, p. 2). I would be angry if such a teacher exists in the school system because viewing and visual representation have been widely accepted as members of the six language arts. Personally, I think the author is getting confused between a perennial teacher who only wants to focus on the classics with someone who did not grow up with technology. I think there is an opportunity for using an intersectional lens that is not just dependent on whether or not one grew up using technology.   


Although I have grown up with technology, the platforms and media that I consume are almost unrecognizable from what I grew up with. According to Kuehn, it is just an assumption that young people coming into the profession will be into the new technology (2012, p. 129). If you asked me to look up videos on YouTube or teach myself how to build a web page using widgets on Blogger I could accomplish it. If you ask me to build a working computer in Minecraft, I would have a steep learning curve because I have hardly touched the game. The internet and digital environment that I grew up with is vastly different from the one that I am learning today. The digital world is not something you can master but something that you need to learn continuously.  


The digital world is advancing at an incredible speed. I found it comical when reading research by Prensky (2001, p. 1) when he called MTV fast media. Today I have an app on my phone that uses an algorithm to feed me videos based on my preferences. I get fast new information on new tools in academia and, for business. Furthermore, I can take photos of complex math problems with the Photomath app on my phone. Moreover, I can also get AI to create original images just from text alone using DALL.E. Online programs such as Quillbot can now paraphrase whole paragraphs just by using copy and paste. The world in the last 8 years has moved at an unfathomable speed.  I remember my second year of college in 2014 I found out about citation generators. Using a citation generator felt like an academic crime. Today, we have advanced tools that can practically write an original paper for you which is an academic crime. 


If a teacher identifies with being a digital immigrant teacher, I would first listen to what they feel they need to be successful in a 21st-century classroom. I would want to know where they feel like they would like to improve. Hopefully, schools will provide a document with a list of valuable online tools and programs teachers can use. Teachers are already expected to be lifelong learners, so if they are going to meet the Teaching Quality Standards they are going to need to use technology in the classroom. During instruction, I would suggest that the teacher use peer teaching with individual research projects. I think students should learn how to research all the tools that are available to help them with their studies.




References  


Kuehn, L. (2012). No More “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants.” Policy Alternatives, 129–132. https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/02/osos106_Digital_Natives.pdf   


Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://d2l.burmanu.ca/d2l/le/content/344529/viewContent/3069037/View  


    Prensky, M. (2001b). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 2: Do They Really Think Differently? On the Horizon, 9(6), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424843

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