Week 8- Article 5

It examines the presumptions made by other scholars about Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives, and says there isn’t a great deal of writing that offers alternative perspectives on the often over-simplified discourses. However, through this research I have found numerous pieces of literature- highlighting that although it was only published in 2007, this article is already becoming out of date. In one section it explores the reasons why immigrants cannot be natives and will never be as good as them. I would argue the point that many people have been born into the native ‘generation’ but are not computer literate or just do not like using digital technology. It is also a hypercritical point, as now this author is categorising and generalising when it was previously arguing against another cited author for doing the same.

They refer to another author who was ‘constructing immigrants as Asylum Seekers’ because they cannot go back to their original ways and are not prepared to use the technology offered to them. However, I feel that in some- not all cases, people have the choice. If someone wants to use ‘legacy’ methods of communication for example snail mail, they can do. They do not need to research on the Internet, they can look in newspapers, in libraries etc. Yes, it would be difficult in such a modern techno-determinist society, but the methods are there is people wish to use them instead.