Prensky vs Boyd

Prensky believes that this generation of youth are "digital natives. What he means is that youth are learners who can easily pick up on new language in the same way they could  pick up learning how to dance.  Prensky goes on to utilize ans compare the term digital natives to the older generation hence, the digital immigrants. Prensky says older adults have to learn new methods of  technology at a slower rate. When I read this, I thought of my mom and my aunts. They are definitely digital immigrants. For the longest time, they used flip phones to communicate with one another. They would look through phone books to find numbers to certain business and they were technologically challenged when it came to social media. Two years ago, they all bought android phones. To this day, they struggle when it comes to texting. Nine times out of ten, they would have one of us send a text message to someone they know. When it comes to me, I would have to say that I am more of a digital native. I caught on to texting and social media fairly quickly. However their are certain aspects of the digital immigrant era that I caught onto such as; face to face conversations, and emailing. Mainly because I didn't have my own phone until I was 19 years old. So, one could even argue that I am more of a digital immigrant as opposed to a digital native.  

 

Boyd believes that it not accuarte to assume that all youth are digital natives.  She believes that educators are responsible in helping youth navigate all methods of technology. I agree with Boyd 100%. I have youth in my after school program that don't have phones, and I have some kids who don't know anything about Snap-chat, Facebook, Instagram, or  TikTok. Just because you see kids with phones or you see them texting, that doesn't mean that they are experts in the field of technology.  Boyd also feels that if  educators automatically assume that youth are digital natives, then they will surely turn their backs on their  responsibility" to help teenagers develop the necessary skills they need to succeed in the world. I've seen a teacher get angry at a  student who struggled when it came to using a chromebook. She said, "how do you not know how to use a Chromebook. You're what 12?" She was upset that she had to sit with the student and walk him through what to do. But she was wrong for automatically assuming all her students were technological experts.