Digital Immigrant
I am without a doubt a digital immigrant. Being born in 1971 there was not devices in my house besides a television set. I spent most of my time playing outdoors or reading.
Then when I was about 8ish my father came home with an Atari. I was amazed! Video games in my own house. Pacman and Mario Brothers. Fabulous!
Next, when I was 10ish my father bought me a Commodore 64. Looking back I felt like this was the most amazing thing. I could play games or make pictures. There were even games that were following directions instead of pictures.
In high school I got the latest technology to write my papers with, a Brother Word Processor. When typing you could only see about one sentence at a time. I used this through college.
Finally, when I was working on my masters I bought a home computer. At the time I felt so thankful to see a whole page of print at a time. It wasn't for some time that I actually began to use other components of the computer.
When I finally began to access other aspects of my home computer I hired a friend to come to my house once a week to show me. I felt so out of my element, especially when beginning to explore the internet. The internet was both frustrating and amazing.
My timeline of acquiring and using technology is in dire contrast to my two boys. They each have had access to Smart Phones and Ipads from the time they were 2. It is incredible how quickly they picked up out to use the technology. When my father wants to look at pictures its my 3 year-old who will help him navigate. Each time my children began using technology I had the same question, "Are they too young?", but in my case I just took the easy route. They were quite and occupied for a blessed few minutes while using these devices so I let it go. I made sure every app on both my Ipad and Iphone were child friendly and educational. I also limited time for them to be on the devices. The article blog below is one authors opinion about children and technology. How Much Technology Should You Let You Child Use?
Dial up internet service was the frustrating piece, while surfing the web was the amazing piece
Then when I was about 8ish my father came home with an Atari. I was amazed! Video games in my own house. Pacman and Mario Brothers. Fabulous!
Next, when I was 10ish my father bought me a Commodore 64. Looking back I felt like this was the most amazing thing. I could play games or make pictures. There were even games that were following directions instead of pictures.
In high school I got the latest technology to write my papers with, a Brother Word Processor. When typing you could only see about one sentence at a time. I used this through college.
Finally, when I was working on my masters I bought a home computer. At the time I felt so thankful to see a whole page of print at a time. It wasn't for some time that I actually began to use other components of the computer.
When I finally began to access other aspects of my home computer I hired a friend to come to my house once a week to show me. I felt so out of my element, especially when beginning to explore the internet. The internet was both frustrating and amazing.
My timeline of acquiring and using technology is in dire contrast to my two boys. They each have had access to Smart Phones and Ipads from the time they were 2. It is incredible how quickly they picked up out to use the technology. When my father wants to look at pictures its my 3 year-old who will help him navigate. Each time my children began using technology I had the same question, "Are they too young?", but in my case I just took the easy route. They were quite and occupied for a blessed few minutes while using these devices so I let it go. I made sure every app on both my Ipad and Iphone were child friendly and educational. I also limited time for them to be on the devices. The article blog below is one authors opinion about children and technology. How Much Technology Should You Let You Child Use?
Dial up internet service was the frustrating piece, while surfing the web was the amazing piece
Alicia, I found your blog very interesting to read because I often find myself in the middle of what I think Prensky would label as a digital immigrant versus a digital native. Although computers, cell phones and the internet existed when I was in elementary school, I did not have constant access to it. Often times, I would only use a computer once a week during my computer class at school. However upon entering middle school, most students had their own cellphones and could text and instant message at home. As a person who was at the cusp of the major shift in society, I often wonder how my life would be different if I was born just a few years later. In all honesty, I do not believe it would have been that much different because I do believe that technology is exponentially changing and evolving at faster and faster speeds. Although your children are literate and natives to today's technology will they be digital natives to the technology twenty years from now? How do we prepare them for technology that does not exist yet?
ReplyDelete"I also limited time for them to be on the devices." - I think this is key, technology is not bad but just like everything else in this world, you have to consume in moderation.
ReplyDelete