Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

"Digital natives" and "digital immigrants" are terms that were coined by American writer Marc Prensky. "Digital native" refers to those who were born into and grew up in the digital world, and "digital immigrants" describes those who did not. 

Out of these two categories, I definitely fall into the "digital native" side of things. Growing up, there was never a time that the internet didn't exist for me, but I do remember using an MP3 player for music (because Spotify-type streaming wasn't a thing yet) and watching my mom take calls on her pink flip phone (as opposed to the iPhone that she uses currently). Watching technology go from bare bones to the larger-than-life entity that it is today is what makes Gen-Z unique (similar to how Millennials watched the internet go from nothing to something). This point is reiterated when you look at even younger generations. My sister, who I am a decade older than, doesn't even know what a flip phone looks like, can cruise from app to app at a speed that even I can't currently, and laughs at the things that I used to do for fun quote-unquote "back in my day" (her words, not mine). Growing up in the digital world has definitely impacted who I am as a learner. For example, being a "digital native" with "digital immigrant" parents always made homework (mainly when I was in grade school and having to ask for homework help) a lot more difficult. They were always confused about the way I was doing my work, and I was always confused about the way they were trying to explain it to me. So, I compromised by being an extremely independent learner. I let Word do my spell-checking, let Grammarly revise my papers instead of peer editing, and let Google give me the answers to my questions. 

However, I do not fully agree with Prensky's beliefs about "digital natives vs. digital immigrants," and neither does psychology professor Paul Kirschner. Kirschner argues that "being a 'digital native' doesn't necessarily mean one is 'digitally literate.' " Prensky's theory would assume that everyone who grew up with the internet is equally as proficient with the use of technology. Kirschner's argument is that being a "digital native" does not definitively mean that someone knows how to use complex technology and, therefore, would not possess all the skills necessary to deem themselves "digitally literate." I myself am an example of this, as I am, by definition, a "digital native" but am extremely far from being digitally literate. I know the basics of technology usage, but I am horrible at anything that isn't simply typing words onto a document or entering something into a search bar. On the other side of things, I know plenty of people who are "digital immigrants" who are immensely better at using technology than I am. My dad, for example, is who I call every time I have computer or phone troubles. Although I am a "digital native," and he is not, he knows a great deal more than I do regarding technology. Ultimately, how good you are or are not at surfing the web all comes down to how much time you've spent perfecting your craft, not necessarily whether you were born in the era of TikTok vs MySpace vs carrier pigeons.