Natives and Immigrants in the digital age?

I really enjoyed the divergent views presented in the works of Boyd and Prensky as I now begin to assimilate my own ideas on the topic of digital literacy and its purpose in education. Strictly from a historical perspective, I do not appreciate the language that Prensky uses of “digital native” and “digital immigrant” as this terminology comes loaded with so many cultural subtexts that should not be applied here as we unpack teaching and learning in the digital age. I do value the purpose of examining the similarities and differences of the learners and teachers in the classroom setting in the context of age and technology and how this affects our work and purpose together.

It is noteworthy and unacceptable to have students feel that they need to “power down” to enter any classroom and I find value in Prensky’s uncovering and examination of how the “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” are inherently different. This is foundational to my work as an educator because it is allowing me to reflect on how I interact and use technology and see how this is different and similar than how it is for my students. I believe that to go anywhere different than where I am, I must first acknowledge what is “so” right now. To use an analogy for this, if I am going to get in my car and drive to Boston, it is important to know that I am in Rhode Island as my route would be different if I was starting in Maine. So, as I reflect on my current reality and also that I know with certainty that I want students to feel “powered up” and actively learning in our work together, a lot of what Boyd shared really resonated with what I experience working with students and what I would like to be happening in my work with students.

As the proverb goes, I can give them food or I can teach them to fish, I want to teach them how to fish. This foundational purpose drives most of my work as an educator and I feel this here in the context of digital literacy as I was reading the section about Wikipedia vs. Google and what students believed simply because a teacher told them something was true about these two available resources. Our words and our work as educators have significant meaning to the young people we work with and knowing this I want to teach them how they can engage critically and interrogate resources for themselves and understand how information is produced so they can be a part of constructing their own meaning and learning. Whether someone says something is true in class, or something is stated as fact in the media, I want students to know how to ask critical questions and use their creativity to fuel their own learning and process to move their own truths and critical thinking forward. 

We live in a mediated world and this is not changing, it is imperative that students feel safe and actually are safe as they make sense of and navigate this world. From Boyd’s work I understand and believe that navigating this must be taught in schools and we can not assume as “digital natives” that they know how to critically examine media. I can acknowledge in my own self-assessment of what is “so” right now for me, that I am learning this too. I do not think this is something to be hidden as a teacher, but rather an opportunity to show my students that I am a lifelong learner and as the world and society ebbs and flows, so shall I. We can become increasingly digitally literate together.