I admit it. I’m a digital immigrant. That’s the term education consultant Mark Prensky (2001) gives those of us born when a mouse went squeak not click. We grew up before personal computers, cell phones, iPods and other technology gadgets were part of our daily lives. We had no concept of control, alt, delete.
As a child growing up in rural West Virginia in the ‘70s and ‘80s, we received only three TV stations – the local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates via antenna. When Atari released Pong, basically electronic ping-pong, my siblings, cousins and I were glued to the TV for hours, fighting for our turn to play the world’s first video game. Today’s kids, who Prensky calls digital natives, would be bored within seconds.
I don’t like being an immigrant; I like to think I embrace change, including new technology. I was one of the first among my friends to get a cell phone, one of those old bag phones, the kind that were the size of a large purse. Today, I’ve got a BlackBerry and a Facebook page, and I text more often than I talk on the phone.
Still, I find old habits die hard. I work in public relations and when I have to copyedit a complicated document, I prefer to print out an e-mail rather than make changes electronically. If you do that, or have ever called someone on the phone to ask if she got your e-mail, you’re a digital immigrant, too.
Even though I embrace new technology, I envy how quickly and easily digital natives learn it. I want to be a digital native, so I’m seeking to bridge this generational digital divide. I’m taking steps by enrolling in my first online college class, Introduction to Digital Marketing Communications. It’s part of a new graduate certificate program at West Virginia University. (Let’s Go Mountaineers!) Already, it has challenged my thinking. I hope you will enjoy reading about my thoughts and insights as I continue my journey into the world of digital media.
References:
Prensky, M. (2001, October). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.
I will follow your blog! Good luck! Jeanne
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a digital immigrant, I like to think I just arrived sooner than others.
ReplyDeleteBeing in public education allowed me to embrace the technology initiatives by learning from my students and peers. Now, as a parent, I learn the technology in order to keep up with (and hopefully ahead of) my middle school son.