Prenksy and Kirschner's Perceptions of Digital Residents

 Once again we come to a topic based on the oversimplification of an idea. The idea that there are two distinct kinds of people when it comes to a digital landscape: Natives and Immigrants. This idea was coined by Marc Prensky, who asserted that younger generations who were greatly familiar with the realm of technology were native to it, whereas others who had to learn it like a second language were immigrants. This can be more clearly delineated to Millenials and older being immigrants, with those of us in Gen Z (and Alpha now, too!) being natives. If you're like me, born in the early 2000's, you probably share a similar experience of relating to the 90's kids while everybody goes, "You're too young!" Not anymore. I came out the same year as MySpace and Skype, and I'm a full-blown adult. Feels like just about everyone who's seen my landscape-oriented ID has mentioned "I forget that people born in 2003 are turning 21 this year." 

With all that, I would certainly consider myself to be a part of the Digital Native group. Sure, it might not have been as prominent before as this last decade has been, but in my memory, my parents have always had phones. I had a DVD player in the car to sit on my lap and watch Bolt or Wall-E on repeat. I've had Nintendo DSs since I was little. I got an old iPod touch at 11, and my first phone at 13. Technology and devices have been a consistent part of my life since I was young, even if I'm as old as or older than a lot of it. I was a huge reader, and definitely not an iPad kid. But I'm out of luck if I need to do anything beyond basic functions. This is where the distinct separation between Natives vs. Immigrants starts to gray, and people fall outside of these black-and-white categories. 

Research has even shown that Prensky's ideas of Natives and Immigrants are too shallow and assume too much. Paul Kirschner is the one who did a lot of the legwork in dispelling myths created by Prensky, like the idea that Natives need to be taught wholly differently. Kirschner asserts that Digital Natives can be digitally illiterate, and I agree based on myself. Sure, I can work my way around a computer, because I've been doing it for a long time. Same with how fast I can type. Same with how I'm able to help older people figure out their computer problems. My long-term exposure to these is the only reason why I can keep up, and in the same way, helps me understand why digital immigrants seem to fall behind. And there are older people who predate a lot of this technology who handle it even better than I do. With Prensky's idea, there's too much variation to be accurate, but these guidelines help give us something to work off of. 

 One thing that I've encountered among others I would consider Digitial Natives is a wild lack of interest beyond what a screen offers. People who only watch TV, play video games, or scroll social media. I will never understand it, and I think I might pass away without my 'grandma' hobbies. I don't speak computer, which is why I'm putting the S in STEM and not the T or E.