Oct 03 2008
Divisions within a generation. (A response)
After reading Taniak’s piece on inappropriateness of the Carbon Dating of Digital Immigrants I felt it was necessary to add my two cents on the digital divide.
For a teacher, I believe there are more important divisions other than age. For example great divides exist within the current generation of “digital natives”.
It seems inappropriate to classify someone as a digital native purely on their age. I personally know 18yr olds have as much ability as a monkey when it comes to utilising technology. Is this person a digital native? Surely Taniak is more of a native than this person?
Original Photography: ‘Computer Monkeys‘
Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Available at: www.flickr.com/photos/42769910@N00/135465558
I believe to us as future teachers, motivating and engaging such students like this 18yr old will be one of the greatest challenges when implementing technology in a classroom.
Additionally, this gap in knowledge may be increased as many such students may be unwilling to ask for assistance due to the stigma attached to a lack of ability with technology. (McFarlane, 2008)
McFarlane, S. (2008). The Laptops Are Coming! The Laptops Are Coming!. Rethinking Schools Online. 22(4). Retrieved September 25, 2008 from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_04/lapt224.shtml
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