Here are some questions I asked myself relating to today’s topic. And yes, I am going to answer my own questions. This will also set the direction of my post for your reading 🙂
- “Does generation plays a part for the activities in the digital world?”
- “Would you consider yourself a visitor, resident or both?”
- “Does the concepts relate in anyway?”
- “Would the evolvement of technology affects and changes these concepts?”
I noticed that Prensky’s concept of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants is often rebut by one of the most well known concept by White and Cornu (2011) who believes that an user in the digital space about the way they operate rather than the connection of age and competency. This two modes of operation are placed in a continuum with the extreme ends of visitor mode and resident mode as seen below. However, one important point to note is that it is uncommon to see an user falls on the extreme end, instead more commonly people are seen at the centre, where we are active within known communities online.
Source: YeePingPang
To a certain extent, I would agree on Prensky’s typology on the aspect that the generation we are born in affects individual’s ease of using technology. Without a doubt, people that are raise up in the digital age, in this case Generation X, and Z do not at all find it difficult to grasp the knowledge of technology. So why is it more complex and difficult for the older generation?
After much thought, I realised the problem is ‘change’. ‘Change’ is also the reason why there are always new concepts rebutting old ones but this does not mean the concept was not true for that period of time. As humans, we hate change but often it is necessary to keep up with the ever changing world.
In my opinion, there is no right or wrong in the concepts. The generation that we are born in affects our perspective of technology. The so called Digital Natives are born in a world that is digital whereas Digital Immigrants were exposed to these technologies later but really, not all Digital Natives are efficient users of the internet and it also does not mean the Digital Immigrants are not proficient users. I would like to think the term Digital Visitor and Digital Residents are made use more appropriately for the behaviors of users.
As for myself, I am considered a “Digital Native” but my behavior online is at times a visitor when I use the web for a specific task and as a Digital Resident for mostly my social networking profiles. What about you? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!
Just in case you have not watch David’s typology, see below for video 🙂
References
Ping, Y. (2014). Digital Visitors and Digital Residents. [Blogpost Online]. Available at http://yeepingpang.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/explain-the-concept-of-digital-visitors-and-residents-drawing-upon-your-reading-and-your-own-online-experiences-to-date-in-support-of-the-points-that-you-make/ [Accessed on 27 Nov 2014]
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. [Online]. Available at:http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf [Accessed on 27 Nov 2014]
“Visitors and Residents.” White, D. YouTube, n.d. Web. [Accessed on 27 Nov 2014]
White, D. and Le Cornu, A. (2011). Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’. TALL blog. [Online]. Available at:http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/ [Accessed on 27 Nov 2014]
Evelina lim 
Hi Evelina! Great! I have so much to ask you, and here goes…
I see you begged to differ that Prensky’s concept of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrant is flawed, and that you accept the point that being born into certain generation does affect the ease of using technology. Not that I disagree with you entirely but I’d like to share with you what I think.
Assuming we are ‘natives’ and our parents are ‘immigrants’. We had the advantage to ‘grow up’ with technology at a young age so we learn things faster, and the older generation had to struggle to keep up. Just because we are native doesn’t necessarily mean we’re tech-savvy and have high digital literacy perhaps in terms of managing our professional persona online etc. The reason why many rebut Prensky’s concept is probably because even as ‘immigrants’ it does not give them the excuse to stop learning. As mentioned on my blog, if there’s a need there, doesn’t matter the age, people will learn how to do stuff. It’s truly more about a need – like is there a need for my mom to be LinkedIn if she’s going to retire in a year’s time? Nope.
This notion is still prevalent, how do you think we can enhance our digital residency in term of institutional/work life? Let me know your thoughts!
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Hi Sara, thanks for reading and leaving a comment on my page.
My thoughts are really quite similar to you such that learning should not be affected by age. I totally agree that no matter the age, if we have the needs, we will learn how to do stuff. And that is exactly what I am trying to put across to my readers 🙂
I mentioned that I agree to Prensky’s concept to a certain extent that being born in a technology generation makes it easier for the younger ones because they are born in a situation whereby technology can possibly be the key to any answer. For example, Google. I believe both you and I grown up in a time whereby information search is as easy as Googling. It is not that our parents are not proficient at it. It may just be the case they are not used to it. However, like I said, change is necessary in times of evolving technology. We might very well be the one who find it hard to change in the future but our younger generation will not because they are grown up with it. They are used to it. No one truly likes to be lagged behind, everyone at a certain time have to learn to keep up with time. Like my parents, they are beginning to see the advantage of social networking and have already created accounts such as Facebook and Instagram. They have also realised the power of Google and they often asked me to Google information for them. They do know the great advantage of Google but still they might find it rather complicated whereas for us, it is at our finger tips. Having said that, I think career and education plays a part too. My parents are not very educated and works as hawkers so there really is not much use of technology for them. But, I believe working office adults are sure very used to it and some of them might be very proficient in certain aspects online compared to us, the younger generation. That is also why I came to my point of not all Digital Natives are efficient users of the internet and it also does not mean the Digital Immigrants are not proficient users.
Regarding your last question on how I think we can enhance our digital residency in term of institutional and work life. Here are my thoughts:
For institutional purposes, as students, we can create blog presence like what we are doing for the module now. We are contributing to online content and we are sharing information and thoughts with one another which is very beneficial. I am very interested in all of our classmates posts that I log online almost every part of the day to find out what are their thoughts on the topic. To help in our employability as well as future work life progress, we should always stay connected on platforms such as LinkedIn. We have come to the age whereby the first impression is actually not face to face but through online search. I cannot help but laugh at that last sentence 🙂
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and I hope my reply answers to your questions.
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