What does it mean to be a Digital Native? How is this changing?
Prior to diving in to this week’s readings and video material regarding digital natives, visitors, and residents I had absolutely no knowledge of these foreign topics. In order to increase my familiarity with this topic I watched Dr. White’s video on visitors and residents as well as read the supplementary readings by authors Mesch and White & Le cornu. Upon utilizing these sources I was able to understand what a digital native, visitor, and resident is in our technological world as well some of the assumptions and behaviors that come along with these ideals.
Now that a basis of the topic has been outlined and prefaced it is time to dive into the analysis of this week’s course material. With all this mention of a digital native it only seems proper to define it, according to Dr. David White a digital native was originally describing a child’s inherent ability to use technology with ease and efficiently because of his or her environmental exposure from a young age and especially due to the wide expansion of the internet, the term was coined in 2001. This also adhered to the idea of Technological Determinism seen in the reading titled “The Internet and Youth Culture” by Mesch that states that this concept presents the internet as an innovative force that has profound influence on children and youth. However, Dr. White states that there were many assumptions about digital natives implemented in society. For example, people thought that “old people just couldn’t get with the times” and opted for the opinion that younger children would teach them how to use technology. However, this stigma that only children had this affinity for technological involvement has recently been challenged by the overall availably to all as well as the age poses no restriction to success. I find this concept to hold validity too, due to today’s modern availability to technology and widespread communication that it is up to the hands of the user to become technologically aware in a modern context as they are able. It is not to be assigned to the growing youth to explain technology to adults but rather the opposite to ensure that children are receiving proper safety precautions on the internet and limitations set by parents for child’s benefit.
Further, this week there was a focus of what “visitors” as well as “residents” means in the realm of technologic soicety. The term visitor refers to a person who typically views the internet as a collection of tools and view online usage as goal-oriented and desire to complete a certain task. Additionally, these type of online users refrain from leaving a digital footprint. This greatly contrasts that of a resident who is typically a user of the web who views it as a collection of places and spaces and are very familiar on the navigation of the web; seek engagement online. Though there are two relative sides to the internet, most people use a combination of both visitor and resident mindsets to carry out their everyday lives. Personally, I think I am a combination of a digital native as well as digital resident because I have grown up with the expansion of tehcnoolgy in my youth and I feel that I fill the qualifications to be a resident with active social media and internet engagement. It is irrefutable to say that as a society we are engaged with the internet, but to what extent? More importantly, I think it is crucial to think about how this usage will change and the implications that it has on society and its members. All in all I thought this week’s topics were very intriguing and provide great food for thought.
