Digital Immigrant or Digital Native?

A classmate of mine described himself as a bridge between the two, and I think that is extremely fitting. I was part of the generation that saw amazing technological advance throughout our childhood. I remember my father telling me about his experiences in Technology Class at the U of O when he went to school. He described a computer the size of a classroom and they each took turns pressing buttons on it. I remember having a computer in our household when I was in second grade; it was the kind with green writing on a black screen and the little square that blinked as you wrote. I could never imagine then, the computers that exist now so in those ways I feel like a digital native, having seen the progression.

On the other hand, I have worked with young children in the last few years, and in many ways they are more technologically advanced than I. And those times make me feel like a digital immigrant. Some of them could not yet read but knew how to navigate the internet. Mark Prensky says, "the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." This terrifies me because I really don't want to be that outdated teacher. I am very glad we are able to take a class in our MAT program that allows us to learn some of the newer technologies, like blogging and creating WebPages.

I don't feel like a digital immigrant in all the ways that Prensky describes. For instance, he says, "Digital Immigrants typically have very little appreciation for these new skills that the Natives have acquired and perfected through years of interaction and practice." That is not true of me at all. I appreciate these new skills but I have not had many opportunities to be exposed to them. I have been amazed at some of the young children’s' technological abilities that I have seen. I feel that we should celebrate that knowledge and make sure they know of their skills in order to encourage learning even newer advances.

When Prensky describes the students of today in Engage me or Enrage me, he explains that students, “More and more, they just don’t tolerate the old ways—and they are enraged we are not doing better by them.” This article makes me ponder the ways I could engage my future students in my Drama classes. While my acting portions will probably still be in the “old” style of teaching, I hope to include the newest technologies when teaching set, lighting, and costume design as well as teaching about directing and how to combine all of the design elements. I hope to empower students to surpass me in everything I teach.