Digital Natives, Digital immigrants.-Marc Prensky

This article describes todays younger and older generations as two seperate cultures. The young generation are stated as digital natives; where computer games and e-mails are integral parts of their lives. The digital immigrants are those who have tried to pick up these new technologies later on in their lives, who have become fascinated with the new aspects, however were not born into them. Digital Immigrants use technology as a backup, as a second resort to finding information, they prefer to read through books than start on the internet which digital natives would do first.

On a larger scale Marc Prensky tells us that we are socialized differently to the older generation and that we are learning a new language which is likely to stick. This language isn't the same as the change which happens through generations already, e.g change in hairstyles or clothes, its a completely new way of life; we are unlikely to go back now. The bigger problem is in education; "digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language(of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." Natives want to learn quickly and recieve information fast, they are not used to sitting down and studying instructions they expect or prefer a networked way of learning and want "frequent rewards". However the immigrants insist on teaching slowly as they belive their way is the only way and they have no gratitude towards the native's way of learning.

Marc Prensky belives that a solution to the struggles of teaching a population with a different language, which is digital, is to change old ways of teaching and use more technology to get the information through. He talks about the success in using video games in order to teach people how to use computer aided design software. Individuals who were shown the software found it a steep learning curve to work out how to use it. Therefore the article suggests it is the methodology that needs to be modified to adapt to the native's usual learning tecnhiques.

Prensky describes how if a child can remember names of pokemon then they can remember the details of each nation in the world. He belives it's all in the presentation and that if these digital immigrants really want to teach the natives of today they need to change their methods and stop
groaning about how things were different in their day.