Prensky vs. Kirschner — Do Digital Natives Exist?

Prensky: What is the Digital Immigrant and Digital Native Divide? How Has It Affected the Ways Students Learn?

    According to Marc Prensky in his essays discussing the digital fluency gap with seems to have formed, a “Digital Native” is someone who has grown up with technology, citing the example of having grown up learning from Sesame Street. In contrast, “Digital Immigrants,” are those who grew up without technology at their fingertips. This has created a “divide” because the immigrants are having to struggle to adapt to new ways technology is being used; they don’t understand it or won’t. Some are willing to learn from the “new generation,” but others are rooted in their traditional ways. This causes rhetoric from teachers to students like, “Students just don’t want to ___ these days,” or “They don’t appreciate ___ anymore,” and the stubborn use of outdated teaching techniques (Prensky ch. 5). In reality, according to Prensky, digital natives just learn differently, and the education system is not longer supporting their cognitive needs. Because of the constant exposure to stimuli, this generation of students needs faster-paced learning and the integration of “content” and “education.” In this case, content is what this generation prefers to consume digitally, whether that be social media, television, websites, etc. Prensky gives the example of integrating a coding game into a coding class, where the students must complete new coding tasks to advance further in the game (pp. 72-73). Students of today need goal-driven learning objectives that they can relate to and recognize. Maybe it is no longer a gold star next to their name that motivates them, but feeding a digital pet. 

Do Digital Natives Exist? —Check out this article for another opinion!

Kirschner: Digital Nativity is not Digital Literacy

    Paul Kirschner disagrees with some of Pensky’s assertions about “Digital Natives” in his article, arguing that “Digital Natives” don’t exist. While I don’t fully agree with this, he does discuss some good points surrounding digital literacy, a term that has been very hot in the recent years surrounding political information and misinformation. In this context, however, he argues that digital natives don’t have a leg up on other generations in terms of utilizing the internet for academic purposes — blogging, researching, networking, etc. — instead opting for ready-made content (p. 138). While it is true that digital natives are more “tech savvy” when it comes to function and quantity of use, it doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to use it for problem solving. Yes, digital natives know how to Google a question or topic, but can they distinguish sources from one another? Do they know the difference between what is credible and what is not? According to Kirschner’s research, no. These are skills they still need help developing, despite their natural abilities. If today’s students had these abilities, why has internet safety and peer-reviewed research curriculum become integrated with our schools? It is because learning how to properly research, distinguish sources, and use the internet safely in not an innate skill, even for “Digital Natives.”

From Osmosis

Works Cited

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. (2012). From digital natives to digital wisdom: hopeful essays for 21st century learning.

    Corwin.