Beyond Digital Natives

Chapter 10: 

"Research into computer games for young children has identified that over they years consumer software has tended to blend educational philosophies with interactive gaming and entertainment genres, thus producing "edutainment"(Ito, 2009). In other words, many of the games designed for young children tend to offer educational value as well as entertainment, For this reason, the pre-specified games chosen for the children reflected this and included a nursery rhyme game that invited the children to participate in the creation of a story as well as a Bob the Builder game downloaded from a website, which encouraged the children to participate in a variety of activities involving manipulation and interaction." (Thomas, 2011, p. 156) 

I have not heard the term "edutainment", which is surprising because I have been using educational computer games for several years with students. But what other types of tasks can young children do with computers? Children are sponges. And from my experience, very experimental. None of this chapter surprised me. What does surprise me is the push to use Mind Craft in educational settings today. I'm not a gamer. This does not interest me in the least. I would have to see it put into action in a classroom in my school before I would buy into it. 

Chapter 11: 

"Some may argue that the integration undertaken in these case studies falls short of radically changing education to be more like the everyday world, but the very issue highlighted by such studies is that the context of formal education, with its particular values and practices, is different from informal and non-formal contexts."(Thomas, 2011, p. 177) 

Perhaps this is the very problem, formal technology (educational setting) and informal technology (personal use), which has been addressed in previously in this course. It is very hard to keep up with the changing times. Education is not always the cutting edge. It can't stay ahead of the curve if it is preparing students to be the future. We give them the foundation and they run with it.  We don't know what they will do with it. That is really how we've gotten where we are today. 

Chapter 12: 

"Last we will end with  a positive outlook. While there are problems associated with youth media practices, and challenges for large learning institutions in responding to those problems, overall we believe a bright future can lie ahead if we are smart about it and listen to sound research." (Thomas, 2011, p. 177) 

It is always good to end with a positive outlook. This text could have left us with a  feeling of "doom and gloom", but the authors kept it all upbeat and unbiased. I will probably not use the term "Digital Natives" and will question anyone who does from now on, just to see their take on the term. It is important that educators introduce and continue educating students with good digital literacy skills. Like my response in the Chapter 11 quote, we give them the foundation it is up to them to run with it.  

I have several technology integration projects planned for next year. I will be educating the students about Digital Literacy as we work through the projects and it pertains to particular pieces of the projects. I am looking forward to it. 

I believe formal educational settings are the place to develop digital literacies.

 If I didn't what kind of a teacher would I be?

Digital Literacy, Wisdom and Partcipation

Chapter 7:

"The key questions then become: What are the key literacies and competencies for the twenty-first century, and how can we develop an education system that is adjusted to face these challenges of competence development for the future? Also, what do young people really know about media, and what implications does this have for learning in educational settings? Technology serves as both a driver and a lever for these transformations." (Thomas, 2011, p. 106) 

I'm always interested in how teachers are educating students in terms of digital literacy. Part of me thinks it should be an educational requirement in its own discipline and part of me thinks it should be covered in all disciplines as technology is used. I have been encouraging my teachers to note the CSOs and topics in digital literacy they use in their daily lesson plans. I know they are concerned with covering what is required in their own discipline and I know they are covering digital literacy topics with their classes as they pertain to the daily work. I think the latter is better because students are informed and then have to put it to use. Hopefully they will remember it next time they are doing something similar.

Chapter 8:

“It is perhaps not surprising that many of today’s undergraduate students are not ‘digitally wise’ when it comes to scholarly information seeking. Prensky notes that his concept of digital wisdom must be ‘learned and taught’ (2009, p. 7).” (Thomas, 2011, p. 132)

The Media Specialist at my school is very good at giving students and teachers information and direction to use the electronic resources in our high school. I know they use it when the teacher requires it, but my guess is they don’t use it if it isn’t required. I recall having a hard time trying to find scholarly information when I was in undergraduate school. I’m sure part of it for students today is just the comfort and convenience as suggested several times in this chapter.

Chapter 9:

“Using the Internet does not automatically guarantee participation in the information society, hence assistance is required in order to engage them in relevant activities. There is some support for using the definition of Internet activities related to “participatory culture” (Jenkins, 2009) since the activity of writing blog merits the feeling of participation.”  (Thomas, 2011, p. 148)

I found this Chapter a little difficult to get through. My understanding from this chapter is the participation in on-line activity is relative to the person doing the participation. I joined facebook several years ago only to have access to the pictures my college age children put on the internet. When I asked questions about activities, etc. they would tell me to look on their facebook account. However, since I really didn’t participate in the facebook community with posts, messages, tags, pictures, etc. I really wasn’t participating. My children told me I was called a “creeper”.


Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge.  

Digital literacy is the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers. The concept of literacy goes beyond simply being able to read; it has always meant the ability to read with meaning, and to understand. It is the fundamental act of cognition. Digital literacy likewise extends the boundaries of definition. It is cognition of what you see on the computer screen when you use the networked medium. It places demands upon you that were always present, though less visible, in the analog media of newspaper and TV. At the same time, it conjures up a new set of challenges that require you to approach networked computers without preconceptions. Not only must you acquire the skill of finding things, you must also acquire the ability to use these things in your life.

P. Gilster, Digital Literacy (New York, 1997), p.1-2

While I would like to think students would be taught some digital literacy skills at home, I know this is not taking place like it should. I believe it has to fall on the teachers because they are the ones teaching students to use some digital tools. The problem is, not all teachers know what digital literacy is or place the same emphasis on it. And students are learning to use digital tools on their own, before using them in class and therefore tune out anything the teacher might have to say about digital literacy.

I think Digital Literacy should be taught inclusively in schools. Otherwise the students have "checked out".

Digital Literacy, Wisdom and Partcipation

Chapter 7:

"The key questions then become: What are the key literacies and competencies for the twenty-first century, and how can we develop an education system that is adjusted to face these challenges of competence development for the future? Also, what do young people really know about media, and what implications does this have for learning in educational settings? Technology serves as both a driver and a lever for these transformations." (Thomas, 2011, p. 106) 

I'm always interested in how teachers are educating students in terms of digital literacy. Part of me thinks it should be an educational requirement in its own discipline and part of me thinks it should be covered in all disciplines as technology is used. I have been encouraging my teachers to note the CSOs and topics in digital literacy they use in their daily lesson plans. I know they are concerned with covering what is required in their own discipline and I know they are covering digital literacy topics with their classes as they pertain to the daily work. I think the latter is better because students are informed and then have to put it to use. Hopefully they will remember it next time they are doing something similar.

Chapter 8:

“It is perhaps not surprising that many of today’s undergraduate students are not ‘digitally wise’ when it comes to scholarly information seeking. Prensky notes that his concept of digital wisdom must be ‘learned and taught’ (2009, p. 7).” (Thomas, 2011, p. 132)

The Media Specialist at my school is very good at giving students and teachers information and direction to use the electronic resources in our high school. I know they use it when the teacher requires it, but my guess is they don’t use it if it isn’t required. I recall having a hard time trying to find scholarly information when I was in undergraduate school. I’m sure part of it for students today is just the comfort and convenience as suggested several times in this chapter.

Chapter 9:

“Using the Internet does not automatically guarantee participation in the information society, hence assistance is required in order to engage them in relevant activities. There is some support for using the definition of Internet activities related to “participatory culture” (Jenkins, 2009) since the activity of writing blog merits the feeling of participation.”  (Thomas, 2011, p. 148)

I found this Chapter a little difficult to get through. My understanding from this chapter is the participation in on-line activity is relative to the person doing the participation. I joined facebook several years ago only to have access to the pictures my college age children put on the internet. When I asked questions about activities, etc. they would tell me to look on their facebook account. However, since I really didn’t participate in the facebook community with posts, messages, tags, pictures, etc. I really wasn’t participating. My children told me I was called a “creeper”.


Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge.  

Digital literacy is the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers. The concept of literacy goes beyond simply being able to read; it has always meant the ability to read with meaning, and to understand. It is the fundamental act of cognition. Digital literacy likewise extends the boundaries of definition. It is cognition of what you see on the computer screen when you use the networked medium. It places demands upon you that were always present, though less visible, in the analog media of newspaper and TV. At the same time, it conjures up a new set of challenges that require you to approach networked computers without preconceptions. Not only must you acquire the skill of finding things, you must also acquire the ability to use these things in your life.

P. Gilster, Digital Literacy (New York, 1997), p.1-2

While I would like to think students would be taught some digital literacy skills at home, I know this is not taking place like it should. I believe it has to fall on the teachers because they are the ones teaching students to use some digital tools. The problem is, not all teachers know what digital literacy is or place the same emphasis on it. And students are learning to use digital tools on their own, before using them in class and therefore tune out anything the teacher might have to say about digital literacy.

I think Digital Literacy should be taught inclusively in schools. Otherwise the students have "checked out".

The Civic, Social and Multi Modal Lives of Digital Natives

Chapter 4: 

"But the question remains: does the fact that some young people may use the Internet and its Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, podcasts, blogs, file sharing sites and social software more than other generations for socializing, information gathering, or leisure purposes (Boyd, 2007) necessarily mean that they will all be motivated to use it for equal volumes of civic or political deliberation and intervention? Our research for CivicWeb, discussed in the following sections, suggests not." (2011, p. 52) 

I agree with this quote because I have seen it in the less motivated students in other academic areas. 

Chapter 5: 

"Teenagers appropriated pagers in the 1990s, and they started to attach meanings to various numbers – for example, 86 (Hachi Roku) means 'Hello.'" (2011, p. 71) 

I had never thought about using a pager for social media before. I think this would be very awkward, but they did it, which means they were innovative. We also see here a different language emerging using this pager technology. 

Chapter 6: 

"From our analysis, it is also evident that regardless of their technical fluency, students still require traditional skills for successful task completion." (2011, p. 95) 

From this quote I venture to say that even though students might be comfortable with technology, they still need guidance while learning and producing.

Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge.  

Pushing the Deadline

This meme gives us the impression the due date has slipped up on the student. 

It could also express a feeling of not being able to do it without technology.  

I choose the word "phone" to go along with the mobile media theme of our reading.

Digital Natives Presentation

Digital Natives Presentation Link

Digital Natives: Reflecting on the Myth

Chapter 1: On page 6 of our text you will find the views of Tapscott as the eight requirements and opportunities of the digital  age (Thomas,  2011, P.6) 

What really hit me when I read this was that it was written in 1999. I've seen some of these changes, but I really don't like the language in #7  "learning as torture". I have never felt that true learning was torture. If you are truly learning it isn't torture. If you are refusing to learn, the process you find yourself in can be torturous.  

Chapter 2: "Why so many adults in developed countries felt, around the turn of the century (and still feel today) "at sea" when confronted by new digital technologies, whereas their children didn't or don't." (Thomas, 2011, P. 16) 

I am struck by the words "at sea". I think adults still feel this way today in 2016.  Technology is changing so fast it is hard to learn. Once you start feeling comfortable with one piece of technology, a new one comes along. For the adults that didn't grow up in the digital age or with the technology available to them, it takes longer to assimilate this knowledge with what we have  previously learned. 

Chapter 3: "The brains of wisdom seekers of the future will be fundamentally different, in organization and in structure, than our brains are today" (Prensky, 2009, P. 3) as quoted in our text. 

I agree with this quote. I think technology causes us to re-organize our brains. I think some of the "digital natives" will be more adept with this than others, much like we are today in our "old school" organization. 

If we think about the term Digital Natives as referring to people growing up in a digital world, then we naturally think these people are "better" with technology, when they are actually just more comfortable with technology. It is easier for them to use it than it is for a non Digital Native. This, however does not mean they are better equipped to learn or be productive with technology tools. They do know how to use social networks, but that doesn't mean they know how to be safe on a social network site. And I'm not sure that the majority of Digital Natives are using their ability to think while using technology. It is too easy to find something immediately. 

We are having some trouble with students at my school and their credit recovery courses. We don't have a lock down browser for it yet and students are googling answers because the answers are, of course, out there word for word and they are quite certain they are. It is still amazing to me that you can type part of a test question from a test bank and the answer will show up with the exact question. They know how to Google an answer, but I don't think this is really thinking or learning. It is part of their comfort with technology that allows them to do this. It is like me belonging to the "look it up" club. I know where my dictionary is and I use it. Of course, I now use dictionary.com if I can't figure it out with spell check. 

Along with their comfort with technology and ease at gathering data, this generation needs to be able to use the technology and information gathered with it in a productive manner not just for things I feel they should know. I am always amazed when I go to the check out and the cashier, usually younger than 25, can't make the correct change without putting it in the register. They are some what confused when the bill is $10.51 and I give them $11 and a penny. But this goes beyond the "Net Generation". 

I do feel that this generation lacks socialization skills in a face-to-face situation. I see it with my youngest, who is 21. My older two, 27 and 25, are much better with face-to-face socialization skills. They are also more likely to leave their technology for extended periods of time, so I wonder if this is something that affects people of a certain age and that we will still see a lot of changes in people now in their 20s. I talk to my children about the readings in this class. The feedback is interesting to say the least.

 Thomas, M. (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. New York: Routledge.  

Prensky, Marc (2009) "H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom," Innovate: Journal of Online Education: Vol. 5: Iss. 3, Article 1. Available at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/innovate/vol5/iss3/1

So at ease with this technology. Bring it on!

This student looks so at ease with the technology around her. If you look closely, she is not physically touching any of it at the time the picture was taken. I don't think many of us would look this at ease if we were in her spot.