As I was thinking about one of this week's topics, digital natives, on my way to work this morning, it has occurred to me that while digital natives think, learn, and understand the world around them differently from other people who have not grown up with modern technology all around them, they certainly have many things to learn.
Just as babies are babbling in their native language, because they have grown up hearing that particular language, digital natives need to sharpen their skills through authentic learning experiences. We do not expect children to use proper English (or insert your language here) grammar just because they have grown up in an English-speaking (or whatever language) environment. For the same reasons, we should not assume that digital natives are proficient in technology.
As a mom to two teens, I can tell you that growing up in an age of all technology has some unintended consequences. I tend to type my texts in complete sentences, using close to ok grammar. My kids tell me how weird I text and when they try to write a paper it is more in text speak. Also it sometimes surprises me how little basic technology they know. They both can run circles around me with youtube or tiktok or whatever else is cool now, but still seem to not understand that if they right click something they get some shortcuts in word, or how to troubleshoot if their laptop's built in mouse isn't working.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beth, for the great example! Yes, my high school kids can figure out technology-related things faster that I do but it's surface knowledge and skills.
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