Mark Prensky, you certainly do make me think. But the more I consider your ideas the more I need to pose a question – are these truly digital natives, or just over-entitled, overly entertained kids with digital toys?
The question started for me back in February while shooting photos outside. I realized that even though I was hip deep in snow on a cold and blustery day, I was totally engaged. I was using digital tools to create and express something of my own. I thought about all of my students and I wondered, just how many of them were equally engaged in using digital tools to build or express something of their own.
So many teenagers, my students included, only use their digital knowledge for entertainment. They essentially fill out online forms that someone else created so they can talk to each other and have fun. Facebook, Myspace and all of the other online forums fall into this category of using digital technology. While growing up with this technology certainly gives them an edge does this really make them digital natives? Isn’t this a concept we need to revisit, now that this technology has evolved even further – for all of us?
During my senior class last year (I teach digital design and digital production to high school students) I introduced Buzzword as the vehicle I would be using for a new project. As I was showing and demonstrating Buzzword to them one student looked up and said – without any provocation from me – “Thank God someone’s using the internet for something that’s not entertainment!” Point well taken – does simply using someone else’s online creations make you a “native”. I asked this same class that question later on – there were two opinions. First – those who use this technology to build or express something of themselves or their friends said, “No!” Kids had to be using it for more than Facebook etc. They considered these forums to be nothing more than the email of our earlier generation. They, in comparison, did everything from creating their own fully functioning web sites (using CSS!), to recording their friends’ bands, creating action characters (2d and 3d), initiating and pursuing ongoing blog discussions (Twitter was one favourite here), making movies, creating manipulated images and sounds and animations (Flash and others)… the list was long and wonderful. But – the other group wanted their say. They claimed that even though they did not use the technology as deeply as group one, they still felt that yes, they deserved the name, “natives”. They pointed out how many adults couldn’t even begin to use Facebook properly – and they were right. It does offer many layers of involvement, which the students had conquered long ago, while the adults they knew were nowhere near this level of sophistication. And they had other examples as well – once again, a point well taken – or was it?
I pointed out how entitled the second group often was, how overly entertained they were, how overly indulged they were. And the class agreed – not totally – but many agreed. Were these overly indulged kids really digital natives? Not by my standards, and that is because the world of digital technology has changed and continues to evolve even as we watch. What counted for so much years ago, now can be taken for granted. There are new levels of “native-ness” if you will allow me this awkward term. Yes, we, the adults, really need to get up to speed and yes, Prensky’s points about how these kids think and work do bear serious consideration. This is especially true for we, their teachers, who must accommodate some of their new attributes. But only some, because not everything they do or stand for is good and supportable. And that, is what bothers me about Mark Prensky’s writings. I am not seeing enough of this other half of the discussion. It is time to put that on the table as well. While we are at it, can we also please redefine what we mean by digital natives? Can we please raise that bar several steps, to better accommodate where this technology has taken us now, and then again in the future as it evolves yet again?
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