According to our readings in class, there are different ways to categorize people based on their usage of technology in their lives. In our first reading, there are “digital immigrants” and “digital natives.” A digital immigrant is someone that adapts and learns to use technology but still maintains their “accent.” This “accent” can be seen through printing out emails, needing to printing documents to edit them, checking to see if someone received their emails, etc. (Prensky, 2001) Alternatively, digital naives think and process information differently and their brains have changed because of having grown up with computer games, instant messaging, TV, video games, cell phones, and other electronic devices and forms of communication.
In the second reading, there are “residents” and “visitors.”According to David White, my students are digital “residents” because they live a large part of their lives online. They interact with their peers through social networking sites- they spend a large percentage of their days online and incorporate technology into all aspects of their lives. A “visitor” on the other hand, is someone who uses technology more as a tool to accomplish a specific task. A very nice example of the differences between “residents” and “visitors” can be seen in the Toyota Venza Commercial shown below. The teenage girl (resident) convinced her parents (visitors) to join facebook then feels bad for her parents for only having nineteen friends. You see the girl sitting alone in her room “living” while her parents are mountain biking with their friends.
After reading these articles, I accept White’s definitions much more than Prensky’s. I grew up with technology: video games, cell phones, laptops, instant messaging, PDAs, etc. According to Prensky, I should be a digital native. However, I do double check to make sure people received my emails! I print out important emails that I keep for backup in the future, I print out important documents, I take screen clippings for proof that I submitted my assignments on-time and that they went through- I completely fit his definition of an immigrant even though I should be a native. I am a “millennial” which, according to CBS News, millennials “are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text.” (CBS News, 2009) Being a millennial, I should be a native but I behave more like an immigrant. The majority of my coworkers are also millennials that behave like immigrants.
I best fit into White’s category of a “resident”. As I sit here typing this, I am also listening to Pandora radio, texting my best friend, and taking far too many breaks to check Facebook. I have Facebook, 4G wireless internet, email, games, and my calendar on my top-of-the-line Android phone. I use my cell phone as a wireless hotspot so I can be on my net book in the car (while other people are driving of course.) I am a resident. I have 627 “friends” on Facebook (about 25 of which are people that I actually communicate with and see on a regular basis) and I set up a Facebook page for my cats. My cats are friends with 22 other cats on Facebook and that number is growing daily. I still print my important emails, but I am a true digital resident.
What I like most about White’s definition is that it is not age-dependent; my 65 year old mother is a digital resident as well. She set up my online banking for me, she sends me text messages and picture messages throughout the day, she is on Facebook more than I am, she sends me crazy YouTube videos, she corresponds with her friends from high school through email, she reads health journals and articles online, she knows how to share articles and other web pages with me through email or Facebook- she is a true digital resident. Apparently she is not alone: “Baby boomers see technology as a gift, not a given, so they are less likely than younger consumers to take it for granted. At the same time, baby boomers aren’t dazzled by every new gadget that comes along. Yet by embracing innovative new services and devices, and using them in unexpected ways to enhance their lifestyles and values, baby boomers are having a tremendous influence on emerging technologies.” (Baby Boomers Are Shaping the Future of Technology, AARP and Microsoft Research Shows, 2009)
Anyone can be a digital “resident” or “visitor” depending on their own acceptance of technology and willingness to adapt. My grandmother at 85 years old would send my brother and me emails from the nursing home fifteen years ago. I remember my brother sending her my eighth grade graduation photo with our dog’s face Photoshopped in. Growing up with technology is not a requirement to be a digital resident.
2011 Toyota Venza Commercial - Social Network . (n.d.). Retrieved August 21, 2011, from YouTube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGmcb3mhLM
Baby Boomers Are Shaping the Future of Technology, AARP and Microsoft Research Shows. (2009). Retrieved August 21, 2011, from Microsoft.com: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-01boomertechpr.mspx
CBSNews. (2009). The "Millennials" Are Coming. Retrieved August 21, 2011, from CBSNews.com: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved August 21, 2011, from http://learn.education.illinois.edu/file.php/1647/Digital_Natives_Digital_Immigrants.pdf
White, D. (n.d.). Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’. Retrieved August 21, 2011, from TallBlog: http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/
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