Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

Most children who were born in this age of time and have access to technology and are often regarded as “digital native”.
I’d say that I too come from that category since I am not new to this technology.

I have had a PC since I was 8 years old. I remember the period when I first used Windows 3.1 IBM DOS computer back in the days.
I also remember playing my first DOS computer games such as Outrun, Alley Cat, Battle Chess, DOOM, etc. Games that had very few colours graphically weren’t great and neither did they have multiplayer online support.

Months later that year, I got my first dial-up internet connection. Because I had a passion for chess, I began to play chess regularly online with other players from around the world.

For me at that time it was truly fascinating. Since the internet speed was nowhere near perfect. But this at the same time made chess a really exciting game to play online. Since it was one of the fewest games I played since childhood on dial-up internet connection.

Several times my connection got disconnected even when I was on a winning position. Yes, sure it was frustrating to not have my win/rating recorded in my stats, but it doesn’t mean I should give up with online chess or this new technology! I knew that technology was still in its peak. The network culture back then was not strong enough either, it only just kicked-off so I had to be philosophical.

Since then, technology has rapidly changed. We now not only have stronger computers. We now have better games with much more intense graphics, animations, etc. Nearly all of our games today support multiplayer online, something that was a dream for me when I was a kid.
Now we also have high speed broadband connection that does not disconnect as frequently as dial-up.

I could have barely played chess online back in the old days. But now I don’t just have chess, I have fast paced online games, hardly any interruptions or difficulties playing online either!
Also not to forget the system requirements of nearly every game, back then I’ve struggled to run games smoothly with no lag/stuttering. I was struggling to play games at lower resolutions, details, etc.

Now I see myself maxing out nearly every game on the market. Running games such as “Crysis” at max 1920x1200 resolution all high with 8x anti-aliasing, etc. If someone told me that I could run games like that on all high settings 5-10 years ago with no problems. I would think that I was dreaming!

The good news is that I have learnt to appreciate this technology. In a way at the same time I was kind of a digital immigrant. I was learning through step by step over the years. I wasn’t completely sure about the technology I had back then. In a way I was experimenting at times, things weren’t going perfectly for me. But I was enthusiastic, I never gave up despite all the problems with the technology that I’ve had back then.

Sadly the new generation of young kids wouldn’t have experienced all that. They’ve been born to see technology in its almost perfect state. They don’t have any experience with DOS 3.1 OS, nor do they have any experience with slow dial-up internet connection that also disconnects frequently. They're also playing fast paced 3D games without being able to appreciate it that much.

In a way we are all digital immigrants in some way or another. We aren’t totally up to date with technology. Even though we may think that we know a lot. It is still not enough.

Also the younger ones in our society may tend to be more arrogant than the older ones when it comes to technology. As we read 'Hierarchical violence and the place of the teacher' we can see the differences between the digital natives and digital immigrants.

There is a possibility that younger ones of the digital native could show more superciliousness than the older ones. They may think that they're far more informed than the digital immigrants. This in a way may be bad for society as well. Younger ones obviously feeling that they are more superior than the older generation. This may mean that they would show less respect towards the older ones and less reluctance to learn and take the words seriously of the older ones.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native [accessed 09/11/10]
'Digital Natives' video. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwKD-GuKkFc&feature=player_embedded [accessed 09/11/10]
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf [accessed 10/11/10]
'Hierarchical violence and the place of the teacher', page 2. Available at:
http://www.malts.ed.ac.uk/staff/sian/natives_final.pdf [accessed 14/11/10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access [accessed 01/12/10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_access [accessed 02/12/10]