Digital Native or Digital Immigrant

In researching the topic, Am I a digital native or digital immigrant? I came across an article written in 2001by Marc Prensky titled, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. In this article he talks about how those of us who navigate the digital world with traditional tendencies, like “calling someone to see if they received our email,” or “calling someone into another room to view something on the internet instead of sending them the URL,” would be considered a digital immigrant. Prensky considers someone who lives, breathes and eats the digital world since infancy a digital native.

            I would have to say that I am a digital immigrant for sure. I realize that I am behind the curve in most technologies, and I have a lot to learn technology wise if I am going to meet my future students at least in the middle. Prensky goes on to say in his article, which was written over 10 years ago, that professors are creating interactive games to teach various subjects like the Spanish Inquisition. Prensky suggests that the brains of the digital natives may be wired differently. I think we do our students a disservice if we force them to fall back to our old traditions. Should they know how to spell, or look up a word in a handheld dictionary? Absolutely, why can’t we teach them the fundamentals, but also foster what they already know to help them grow academically and technologically. One of my main reasons for becoming a teacher is to reach those students who feel like they don’t have a place in this world. I believe technology could be that olive branch to get them to open up and see themselves in a world in which they could explore.