The Challenge: Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives

In the previous post I discussed who are  Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives.  The purpose in this post is to further clarify the difference that Adult Learners encounter when faced with technology.  By the nature of the generation when the Adult Learner was born they are at a technological disadvantage.  Some Adult Learners have adapted and function at ease and expertise in our technologically laced world.  However, there are more Adult Learners who are not prepared for Online Learning.
          Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives are terms coined by the author and motivational speaker Marc Prensky to describe individuals that were not born into technology age (Digital Immigrants) and individuals who were born into the technology age (Digital Natives).   These terms describe the learners enrolled in today’s distance learning classes.  There are challenges for the instructors and students who interact with these students.  The challenge for instructors is to design learning methodologies that can incorporate rich learning experiences for both groups of learners.  The challenge for the students who fall into either of these categories is to be able to collaboratively work and learn together.

I titled this blog entry “The Challenge: Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives” because instructors in digital learning environments will find it challenging to incorporate learning experiences to ensure that each individual student receives the necessary tools and instruction to be successful in the digital learning environment.  Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives will need to rely on each other to ensure that they can communicate, and work collaboratively on assignments.

The issues that Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives face in regards to distance learning speak volumes to my view of Adult Learner issues.  Especially in regards to Digital Immigrants and their lack of technological skills necessary to be successful distance learners.  I am sure that some Digital Natives have issues with interacting with Digital Immigrants because of their, impatience, and views that technology is life.  To clarify, some important difference between Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives please review the chart below in figure 1.

Older – Digital Immigrants	Younger -  Digital Natives
Prefer to talk on the phone or in person	Prefer communicating via text , Facebook etc.
See high value in delayed gratification	Prefer instant gratification and rewards
Value proper English	Use text short hand Cu tomorrow, Luv ya
Think of the internet as passive	Use the internet to play, socialize, for fun
Use the internet to gather information	View the internet in terms of interaction and participation
Think of the internet in passive terms not a part  of real life	Many aspects of life are happening online
Like to focus or complete one task at a time	Enjoy multitasking and task switching
Prefer to hang out in person, clubs	View the internet as real and often more enjoyable than offline life
Value loyalty and consistency in the workplace	More concerned with personal satisfaction and self-focus

Figure 1. Chart adapted from Zur Institute article On Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives: How the Digital Divide Affects Families, Educational Institutions, and the Workplace (Zur, 2016)

Even though Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives are different in their skills, beliefs, and values in regard to technology they both have valuable lessons to learn from each other.

What can Digital Natives teach Digital Immigrants?

·         To collaborate across boundaries, with a variety of people

·         To make a place in life for values

·         To build solutions that are horizontal

What can Digital Immigrants teach Digital Natives?

·         To achieve goals quickly

·         To use focused resources in building things to scale

·         To revitalize or re-purpose existing institutions (Degraff, 2016)

References:

Degraff, J. (2014, June 16). Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants. In The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 9, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-degraff/digital-natives-vs-digita_b_5499606.html

Prensky, M. (2001, October 5). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

O. Zur & A. Zur (2016): On Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives: How the Digital Divide Affects Families, Educational Institutions, and the Workplace. Zur Institute - Online Publication. Retrieved on April10, 2017 from http://www.zurinstitute.com/digital_divide.html.