"John Perry Barlow, a renowned poet and cyber-libertarian, leveraged this concept to divide the world into “us” and “them.” Barlow, best known as the former lyricist for The Grateful Dead, was quite comfortable using provocative words to express political views"(177).
Boyd argues that digital natives, a term that praises the articulacy of our “tech savvy youth” seems, at times, degrading towards adults who did not have the benefits of growing up with computers and digital devices. However; we need not perceive ourselves as technologically ignorant. Many adults have similar technological abilities as younger generations, even though society will always identify them as digital immigrants based on age only. Educators should not be threatened by students’ knowledge, so much so, that is dangerous to feel we do not need to teach them how to become literate digital citizens and how to think critically as they navigate the internet. These types of lessons are similar to ones we have been teaching for years. It is the medium, resources and writing instruments that have changed, not necessarily the content youth are producing and consuming.
The term “digital natives” was comprised by Marc Prensky with the intention of celebrating“young peoples reported fluency with technology.” However; it was never Prensky’s intention to express that adults take a docile stance with youth by not teaching students skills that would support them in becoming responsible and discerning in regard to the endless amount of information available to them on the internet.
Mark Prensky- " What Is the Role of the Teacher in Todays World"
When youth are described as digital natives, it “obscures the uneven distribution of technological skills and media literacy across the youth population, presenting an inaccurate portrait of young people as uniformly prepared to the digital era and ignoring the assumed level of privilege required to be “native.”
Youth have different levels of skills, strengths are weaknesses regarding their abilities on digital devices. Digital competency can be understanding how computer systems work and creating pages by writing code. For others, it will be producing similar work by cutting and pasting from web images and photos. Many young people also have difficulty dismantling information from the internet and assessing if it is viable or inaccurate. It is crucial to teach students how to distinguish between credible sources or ones that are displaying incorrect knowledge to its readers.
Different levels of technological skills can vary for numerous reasons. The most obvious being lack of interest on how to fully utilize digital tools, especially if one’s only interest is social media. Additionally, Boyd states that young people who spend time with others who are fully engaged with technology will then become interested too. Another disparity in skills is due to digital inequality. Youth who have a lack of technology available to them will often lag behind those who have full access to the internet and sophisticated devices.
The term “digital natives” was comprised by Marc Prensky with the intention of celebrating“young peoples reported fluency with technology.” However; it was never Prensky’s intention to express that adults take a docile stance with youth by not teaching students skills that would support them in becoming responsible and discerning in regard to the endless amount of information available to them on the internet.
Mark Prensky- " What Is the Role of the Teacher in Todays World"
When youth are described as digital natives, it “obscures the uneven distribution of technological skills and media literacy across the youth population, presenting an inaccurate portrait of young people as uniformly prepared to the digital era and ignoring the assumed level of privilege required to be “native.”
Youth have different levels of skills, strengths are weaknesses regarding their abilities on digital devices. Digital competency can be understanding how computer systems work and creating pages by writing code. For others, it will be producing similar work by cutting and pasting from web images and photos. Many young people also have difficulty dismantling information from the internet and assessing if it is viable or inaccurate. It is crucial to teach students how to distinguish between credible sources or ones that are displaying incorrect knowledge to its readers.
Different levels of technological skills can vary for numerous reasons. The most obvious being lack of interest on how to fully utilize digital tools, especially if one’s only interest is social media. Additionally, Boyd states that young people who spend time with others who are fully engaged with technology will then become interested too. Another disparity in skills is due to digital inequality. Youth who have a lack of technology available to them will often lag behind those who have full access to the internet and sophisticated devices.
As a digital immigrant I stand behind the positions of both Boyd and Prensky. Although Prensky coined the terms, digital natives and immigrants, he never expected them to become a way to explain how youths’ “supposed” technological expertise required no input form the adult community. Youth has much to learn about digital literacy, especially in the way they analyze information on the web. Both adults and youth have much to learn from each other; however, it is the adults’ responsibility to empower its young people and keep them safe in our ever-growing global society.
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