A digital native basically refers to an individual born in the digital era, that is, after the 1980s. This generation grew up with the internet. Technology is part of the culture of this generation. A digital native is well and fully adapted to the digital culture, which is characterized with technological advancements. A digital immigrant, on the other hand, refers to a person born before the 1980s. This group of people, seem to be caught up in two different cultures altogether. Digital immigrants are held back by the culture of the pre-digital era and often take time to adapt to or be part of new technological inventions or advancements. While there are a lot of differences between the digital native and the digital immigrants, they all live in a world of technology, one in which most operations and activities are done digitally. The ideologies of the two generations can affect the ability to educate. This paper will look at some of the differences between the digital natives and digital immigrants and also assess to see if these differences can affect the ability to teach.
Differences
While digital natives live in a digital era, digital immigrants keep adjusting slowly in order to fit in the digital era. A digital native is quite compatible with the digital world. Digital natives can multi-task while using various forms of technology. A digital native can listen to music while going through Facebook or checking his or her emails while at the same time text friends on snapchat or WhatsApp. These people do not spend a lot of time on a particular item as they have a variety of item to go through. Digital immigrants would rather carry out each activity, one at a time. A digital immigrant, will use the computer to check for his or her emails slowly and keenly then log into Facebook. Digital immigrants take their time going through things and practically read through almost everything to stumble on ( Reid, 2018) .
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Because digital native grew up with technology, they have been connected to their friends on various social sites since their childhood. For this reason, digital natives are not very appreciative of the various technological tools. To a digital native, especially those born in the 2000s, Facebook is simply a platform where they meet and socialize with friends. Digital immigrants already made a lot of friends before the digital era. Most of them reconnect with old friends on social sites such as Facebook. Social sites such as Facebook have been very helpful in this way for this generation. Therefore, digital immigrants always show a lot of appreciation for the various technological tools such as the internet. The thought of meeting long-time friends or checking on them using Facebook sounds like a pretty good idea.
Digital immigrants were born in the era where people mainly used books and pens for taking notes. For this reason, digital immigrants greatly appreciate hard copies and rely on pen and paper most of the time. Digital natives, on the other hand, are not friends with pen and paper. A digital native will most likely take a note using a phone, a tablet or a laptop. If you ask a digital native to take notes from a book, a magazine, or article, he will take out his phone and take pictures instead. The difference between digital natives and digital immigrants can easily be seen at their homes. Digital immigrants have boxed DVD sets for almost all their favorite movies and music albums. A digital native has no love for the use of DVD sets and will always be astonished at the sight of one. A digital native would rather stream everything they need online. A digital native will check to see who has opened their snapchat. A digital immigrant must call to ask or check if you received their email. The point is, digital natives and digital immigrants have different ways of utilizing technology ( Kirk, et al. 2015) .
How the Differences Affect Education
Teachers born in before the 1980s may find it difficult to teach kids of the digital era. Concurrently, digital natives, may not feel good being taught by such teachers due to their ideologies. Such a teacher may require students to use their hard copies, pens, and books while in class. Such teacher may discourage students from accessing information from the internet using their phones. Students in the digital era, prefer getting every information from the web ( Bullen & Morgan, 2016) . Because such teacher may not be knowledgeable about some of the newest digital things, they may feel out of place or as if they are not able to teach such group of students. A teacher may stress on certain issues or subjects thinking such ideas are new to the students while at such moments, the students would be thinking of how boring the subject is.
Conclusion
Digital natives and digital immigrants, as discussed above, have a lot of differences in the way they respond to or utilize technological tools. While digital natives are born during the digital era and technology is part of their culture, digital immigrants are caught up between two different cultures. Digital immigrants, therefore, struggle to adapt and cope up with new things, one at a time. Both the generations have found themselves living in a world dominated by technology. Ideologies of either generation may affect the ability to teach.
References
Bullen, M., & Morgan, T. (2016). Digital learner’s not digital natives. La Cuestión Universitaria , (7), 60-68.
Kirk, C. P., Chiagouris, L., Lala, V., & Thomas, J. D. (2015). How Do Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants Respond Differently to Interactivity Online?: A Model for Predicting Consumer Attitudes and Intentions to Use Digital Information Products. Journal of Advertising Research , 55 (1), 81-94.
Reid, L. (2018). Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Pearson
