Learning Online

How has learning and education developed over the years, to the point where we can now gain all the knowledge we need through a screen? And what are digital natives and immigrants? (Prensky 2012)

Digital Natives consist of those who were born into the digital lifestyle. Being surrounded by technology growing up, they have a natural skill when it comes to doing things digitally. The youngest of this generation are even called “iPad kids” now because they rely heavily on the existence of their iPad or tablets to be able to go on with their daily lives. 

Digital Immigrants on the other hand, are those of older generations who have had to learn to adapt to the use of technology later in their lives. Digital immigrants may struggle with simple technology that digital natives have already mastered. 

So how does the difference between digital natives and immigrants affect how students learn? To put it simply, digital natives (current students) need the visual and auditory stimulation that they get from their daily use of screens from digital immigrants (current teachers) who may struggle with navigating current technology. The learning behaviors and preferences of the two generations differ greatly, causing a challenge when they collide. One main struggle that stands out to me is the difference in which speed students learn best. Digital natives prefer fast and entertaining ways of conveying new information and showcasing their understanding of certain topics (Kammermeier 2026). This could be accessing links to YouTube videos or links from their teachers to certain websites or documents. However, teachers who are most likely digital immigrants may struggle with providing those students with the correct link or document, or finding the functions to change certain accessibility settings for their students. 

These ideas were all argued by Marc Prensky in 2001, mainly pushing the concept of recent generations automatically being more “internet smart” and learning better digitally. However, Paul Kirschner argued that such ideas of “digital natives vs immigrants” were all just a myth. The way our brains function are still the same and our familiarity with technology does not determine how well we learn. I can see where both arguments are coming from. I often find myself teaching my parents how to navigate their devices for simple tasks such as editing a photo or posting on FaceBook. However, this doesn’t mean the way my parents were brought up was “wrong” or that they learn differently from how I do. In fact, rather than a generational difference, I believe it all comes down to personal preference as I know people who would be considered “digital immigrants” that prefer doing certain things digitally and vice versa.

References

Kammermeier, J. (2022, July 4). Digital natives vs. digital immigrants: How to inspire everyone. You-Know.de; youknow. https://you-know.de/en/blog/digital-natives-vs-digital-immigrants/ 

Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142. 

Prensky, M. R. (2012). From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom: Hopeful essays for 21st Century learning. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.