My boys are considered Digital Natives. However, they were not allowed much time on screens at all when they were young, they watched an hour of PBSKids in the morning while they had breakfast and maybe a video in the afternoon while I was making dinner. The tv was not turned on during the day and we did not use a computer or ipad for daily school in the elementary years. They did not have smart phones until they were in high school and even then we used screen time limits and had rules about keeping the phones out of the bedrooms and parents were to be granted access to the phone at any time without notice. Oddly enough, I never did randomly "check the phone." Social media was a definite no. When my youngest son joined the high school swim team the captain liked to share team info via Snapchat, but we stuck to the rule of no social media until 16 so he ended up missing a few messages. Eventually the captain adjusted and would send my son an email or a regular text. Both of my boys did start Instagram accounts around the age of 16. The oldest one posts stories frequently and scrolls quite a bit. The younger one rarely posts and tries to self-regulate his scrolling to keep it at a minimum. All of that backstory just to say that despite our efforts as parents to limit their access to technology, they were born into the digital native era and there is no getting away from it. The younger one though despises the "screenagers" and does his best to make sure he's not glued to his phone 24/7. He is very mindful of keeping balance in his life. The older one does not do that and I definitely feel it changes his brain chemistry when he's allowed himself too much screen time.
I was born in the era that is now considered Digital Immigrants. I can clearly recall teachers telling me I had to learn how to do math with pencil and paper because I wouldn't always be walking around with a calculator in my pocket. That of course, turned out not to be the case at all! Aside from that, which I love that I always have a calculator available, as a Digital Immigrant I do prefer to talk to people rather than text and I do not turn to the internet first when I want to know something. The funny thing is as I was reading the article, I thought the term Digital Immigrants perfectly described my husband and me, but my parents fit right in with the Digital Natives. They are retired, but spend several hours a day watching YouTube videos, mostly educational but some just purely for entertainment. If they want to know something, they immediately ask Siri. Finding people on Facebook that they haven't talked to in 50 years is a full time hobby. My mom even opened an Instagram account so she could follow the grandkids!
As far as educating Digital Natives goes, I think the philosophy holds true that you have to meet students where they are. Educators just need to be mindful to use the tools that are available in a way that enhances and supports learning and don't just use a tool because it's popular and available.
Great post! I loved reading your description of your parents as Digital Natives despite their age. This is in line with critics of Prensky's model. I'm curious if they are "self taught" or did you help them? :) Or did one or both already feel comfortable with tech?
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