Digital Natives: Reflecting on the Myth

Quote from the Forward of Digital Natives.
"Technology often plays a complex and ambivalent role in this ongoing, mutual construction of generations."-Professor David Buckingham
 I chose this quote from the Forward because I thought it was an accurate statement.  We have been categorizing ourselves into different generation groups for many years.  Technology has been ever-changing over the years and has most definitely shaped the construction of  the generations.  Going forward I have no doubt that technology will ultimately mold and construct our generation groups.

Quote from Chapter One of Digital Natives.
"Two hundred years later, the Internet has brought greater global access to information, education, and commerce than ever before, but these benefits have to be balanced against cybercrime, cyber-bullying, information overload, violent video games, copyright infringement, and 24/7 online pornography."-Michael Thomas
This quote spoke to me on many different levels.  It spoke to me as an educator, it spoke to me as an aunt to three nieces, and it also spoke to me as a possible future parent.  The Internet has been such a wonderful tool in the world of technology, but it does come with many risks.  In today's society, there are more social media outlets for our children to get caught up in.  Almost all of my fifth grade students had an Instagram account and most of them had a Facebook account.  We have to really teach our children how to stay safe while on the Internet and the risks that are involved.  They need to know about child predators, cyber-bullying, and inappropriate websites.  There are parental blocks that you can put onto your computer that block your child from freely browsing the internet.  We have Internet blocks at our school for the students' iPads so that they can only go to sites that we approve.  Even though the Internet allows us the opportunity to explore and learn, our children still need to know how to stay safe while browsing.

Quote from Chapter Two of Digital Natives.
"So to me, being a Digital Native is about growing up in a digital country or culture, as opposed to coming to it as an adult."-Marc Prensky
I was born in the early 90s so I suppose I can consider myself a Digital Native.  I grew up watching my older brothers play Nintendo and Play Station and hearing the dial-up sounds from AOL.  I would spend my weekends with my aunt and uncle playing Barbie Fashion Design on an old Windows 98 Desktop.  As an adult (who still lives at home), I am frequently helping my middle aged mother use my laptop.  She will often need help printing a document that she typed or completing an order on Amazon.  I tend to laugh at her and try to figure out why she needs help with such simple things.  After reading this chapter by Marc Pensky, I finally understand.  My parents were not born into a world with technology.  My father was born in 1951 and my mother ten years later.  They have had to develop a sense for technology as an adult and that has proven to be a challenge.  The good thing about our children today is that they will already have that technology background.

Quote from Chapter Three of Digital Natives.
"Prensky's revised position is still deterministic; it suggests that digital enhancement is essential, and even though it moves beyond a straightforward divide between immigrants and natives, the argument retains a simple moral imperative: digital enhancement has to be accepted in order to succeed."-Chris Jones
Digital enhancement is essential to move forward.  There are new technologies being created all of the time and that cannot be changed.  The world needs to continue to move forward in this direction.  Although I am still waiting on someone to invent a working hovercraft, I think we have been successful with technology up to this point.  Who knows what will happen in the next five or ten years.  There could finally be a cure for cancer and diabetes.  There could be a vaccine for HIV/AIDS.  Technology is continuously changing and we have to change with it.

Now that I have read the chapters from Digital Natives I have a new opinion of the effects of technology on young people.  As I have previously stated, our children today are growing up with technology all around them.  As babies they are exposed to early learning DVDs such as Baby Einstein.  As toddlers they are given toys that run off of a smart phone.  Once the children start school they are given iPads and shown how to use the Internet to find information.  The Digital Natives have the upper hand when it comes to dealing with technology because they are being raised by it.

"Baby Einstein"

This child looks to be around maybe two years old and is watching DVDs on a laptop.  This child is a Digital Native because he was born into the generation where technology is prominent.  I captioned it "Baby Einstein" because it is a play on of the DVD that he is watching and also what the parents hope will become of the child for watching the DVD at such a young age.


Bibliography:
Digital Natives; Forward, Professor David Buckingham, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Digital Natives: Chapter One Technology, Education, and the Discourse of the Digital Native, Between Evangelists and Dissenters, Michael Thomas
Digital Natives: Chapter Two Digital Wisdom and Homo Sapiens Digital, Marc Pensky
Digital Natives: Chapter Three Students, The Net Generation, and Digital Natives, Accounting for Educational Change, Chris Jones