Friday, 20 March 2009
Week 9: C- A person that threatens the digital native/immigrant notion
I can think of one immigrant straight away who defies the native/immigrant discourses. He is 45 years old and knows a great deal more about digital culture than the immigrant in his early 30’s, and about the same amount as myself. One main reason is that I do not think he realises himself just how habituated to the digital world he really is. When looking at common characteristics of the two groups, this would seem a trait of a native. Another point is that he is always eager to learn new things and will happily ask those who are obviously natives (from seeing them use technology) how to do things, for example how to use Skype. In this sense, is he a native or an immigrant? Do immigrants want to learn or is it a case of having to learn for the likes of the modern workplace? The notion that natives want ‘instant gratification’ can also be applied to immigrants; as in this man’s case, he learns skills so he can do tasks easier and quicker in the long run.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think this is a good example of someone who might be threatening to the notion of a digital native or immigrant. Especially because the man you are discussing seems to be part of both categories For example he is an immigrant of this new found technology but is a native of the older technologies. He is obviously trying to adapt to the ideas of new technology to enhance his own personal skills.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that maybe there should be a category inbetween digital immigrants and digital natives? Perhaps Prensky should've come up with someone who manages to mix characteristics of a native and an immigrant that works for them. Should there be a middle boundary where the two cross over as I sometimes I feel it is hard to determine what people may be out of the two (especially if they have the characteristics in both areas). Sorry if this didn't make any sense, but I hope it did lol xx
I does make sense and I completely agree with you :D I do feel that Prensky does generalise too much with the two notions because under further analysis this last couple of weeks, we have all found anomalies to the notions-someone that has traits that could be applied to both natives and immigrants.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right in suggesting there should be another category in between, but I do not know what you would call it...an immi-native?!
I think you've hit upon a key aspect that few of your colleagues have expressed. It's the lack of self awareness when it comes to digital technology usage. This is key for Prensky. This is where his notion of the immigrant's 'accent' comes in. If you have to ponder it and get concerned over its workings, you're not a native in Prensky's book.
ReplyDelete