What do you make of the positions of Prensky and Spiegel? Where do you stand on the “digital native” terminology?
After reading Prensky Revisited, I got the impression that Spiegel believes Prensky's definition of people's comfort level with technology and media was too broad. I both agree and disagree with Prensky because, from what I gathered, he was one of the pioneers in this field. At the time, it seems like he was one of the first people trying to understand how technology was changing education. When you're the first to explore a new idea, it's difficult to have concrete answers. I think Prensky was working with the information and ideologies available to him at the time. I would be interested in reading how his thinking has evolved over the years and how he would update his ideas based on today's research.
I really liked Spiegel's interpretation of the different types of technology/media users because it aligns more closely with how we think about learning today. Learning is not a linear process, so placing everyone into only two categories doesn't seem accurate. Categorizing people based on how they use technology/media —whether they are creators, social users, gamers, or workers—feels much more realistic. It helped me better attempted to understand the strengths and learning gaps within each category. As I prepare for the upcoming school year, I'm already thinking about ways to identify these different types of media users among my scholars so I can help them become well-rounded, multifaceted users of technology instead of staying confined to just one category.
Hey Mikey, this is a pretty solid first blog post!! I totally agree with your take that when someone comes up with a new idea it's difficult to have concrete ideas. I think it's totally valid that he pioneered the terms digital native and digital immigrant in 2001 because it was relevant at the time, but now I definitely believe the terms are outdated. I also totally agree with the categorization of how people use technology. I wonder how you will identify these users in class? Maybe you can create a survey to see which students fall into which category?
ReplyDeleteMikey, I like that you give Prensky some grace and acknowledge that we cannot have it all figured out, especially when we are exploring something early in its inception. I would also like to know what he thinks now and how he might respond to Spiegel. I also agree that Speigel's terms allow for more nuance and do not confine learners to a digital binary. Thank you for your insight!
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