digital native

reesetee commented on the word digital native

Used in a report by Educause Center for Applied Research (part of a group that promotes technology use in higher education) to describe a person who's grown up immersed in Internet/digital technology and "leisure devices" (think iPod).

September 18, 2007

trivet commented on the word digital native

As opposed to a digital immigrant?

September 18, 2007

uselessness commented on the word digital native

That's me. I'm probably the first generation that can really claim that, and even I barely made it in -- I've been on computers since I was two (the PC was a pretty new concept, then) and first got on the internet when I was ten. It's the second generation that frightens me though, the kids who text each other as naturally as breathing (and as frequently, it seems). When I was growing up, I was the nerd. It's weird to see ordinary, average non-nerdy kids so in-tune with that stuff today.

September 18, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

You're right, uselessness. Those kids scare me sometimes. ;-)

Trivet, the apparent opposite term in this study was "millennial"--which doesn't make any sense to me, but then I didn't have access to the whole report.

I remember trying to get the hang of what in hell a cursor does on the very first computer I had to use--a few years after finishing grad school. Guess that makes me an elder statesperson. ;->

September 18, 2007

jennarenn commented on the word digital native

It's fun to talk to kids about the older computers. I love telling them stories about when computer monitors only had four colors. What really gets them is when I talk about what we did before mouses.

September 19, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

Wait'll you start telling them about typewriters. ;-)

September 19, 2007

uselessness commented on the word digital native

First computer I really remember using was an Apple IIe. I think I used another machine prior to that, but that's about as far back as I go.

September 20, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

Commodore 64, my friend. It was so ornery that a repair guy actually suggested I spill coffee on the keyboard...accidentally on purpose.

September 20, 2007

npydyuan commented on the word digital native

My favorite part of the C64 was waiting for the cassette tape drive to find what it was looking for!

September 20, 2007

john commented on the word digital native

I remember the sound of that tape drive! In middle school I bought myself a VIC-20 with my lawn mowing proceeds. 5k of RAM! I was obsessed with it for a few years, then stuck it in a closet and didn't really touch another computer until I was introduced to the Interweb in 1995.

That's not entirely true. I was given a Mac Plus (no hard drive!) as a high school graduation gift in 1988, which I promptly sold to buy drugs.

September 20, 2007

npydyuan commented on the word digital native

I graduated in 88, too!

You probably made a good choice with that Plus... Although, I wouldn't mind having one now.

September 20, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

No hard drive! Oh, the horror! I lost many fascinating and cogent works of literary wonderfulness because of those castrated things.

September 20, 2007

jennarenn commented on the word digital native

I actually got a B in my highschool keyboarding course because I kept smudging my papers on the typewriter. :P

September 20, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

Typewriter ribbon. Good riddance!

September 20, 2007

npydyuan commented on the word digital native

My favorite typewriter ribbons are the half black, half red ones, on real metal spools....

September 21, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

Oh, I almost forgot about those! Good times.... ;-)

September 21, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word digital native

Wow. This comment list is fascinating.

I had a Timex Sinclair. It was pre-Commodore 64 I think--maybe not--but hooked up to the TV in the living room. It SUCKED out loud on toast.

Also, in my job (creating educational media), we are VERY familiar with the "phenomenon" of digital natives vs. digital immigrants. We in the field, for example, are almost all digital immigrants, while the people we are creating products for are digital natives. It does change how we do things.

p.s. John and I are the same age!

September 28, 2007

uselessness commented on the word digital native

In truth, I think I'm somewhere between the two classes. I must have been born on the boat during the trip to the digital New World.

September 28, 2007

john commented on the word digital native

A Timex Sinclair, with that tiny little chiclet keyboard! I'd forgotten all about those. An underpowered little turd of a computer, but I thought they were the bee's knees in middle school.

This discussion reminds me of the one laptop per child initiative, and their recently announced buy one give one program, which I'm sorely tempted to participate in. I saw an XO laptop at a conference this summer, and they're beautifully designed little computers. It would be a Good Thing if the OLPC program and similar initiatives made digital natives out of a lot of kids in a lot of places who otherwise wouldn't have been.

September 28, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

That must have been one hellacious boat trip, uselessness. ;-)

Interesting what chained_bear says about digital "immigrants" creating educational material for digital natives. I find myself in that position on occasion as well--what a learning curve!

John, heard about that initiative too, and I'm also tempted. I can think of a few schools around here that could use the "buy one" half, too--so double the giving. :-)

September 28, 2007

vanishedone commented on the word digital native

Henry Jenkins has a short blog post on the origins and limitations of the term.

December 6, 2007

bilby commented on the word digital native

Is this one of the most commented threads? I think I should be here, and someone should bring me a comfy chair and some kind of drink with a little umbrella in it.

December 6, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word digital native

*hands bilby a bright pink umbrella drink*

December 6, 2007

bilby commented on the word digital native

*sips drink and falls over yet-to-be-put-in-place-chaise-longue*

*mutters "I'm all pink and digital, it'll be fine"*

December 6, 2007

reesetee commented on the word digital native

*sets chaise-longue in place, a little late*

VO, thanks for the link. I agree that this phrase tends to bring to mind younger (vs. older) users of technology, which is surely an oversimplification. The other day I was reading a complaint by a 50-something editor/instructor for a graduate-level publishing course who was appalled that none of her students were as tech-savvy as she. She wondered whether it meant that those in liberal arts fields (of any age) were generally less technologically skilled than those in other fields (science, for example). So "digital native" and "digital immigrant" could refer to anyone of any age, I'd imagine.

December 7, 2007

sionnach commented on the word digital native

Bah humbug! I remember when we had to punch our very own Hollerith cards, assemble the bunch, pray to zeus that nobody would drop or shuffle them, then take them down to be handed over to the zitty geeks in the basement of the computer center for submission into the belly of the beast. One had to wait until 10am the next day to check back to see if this process actually generated any "output".

October 10, 2009

john commented on the word digital native

Hey sionnach, guess that makes you a digital native :-P When I worked at Woods Hole there were 10,000 ancient Hollerith cards lying around the computer department. If I had to program with those things I'd be a poet right now. Ok fine, a poetaster. But definitely not a programmer.

Harking back to my XO laptop comment from two years ago, a friend got one, and turns out they're totally useless. Cute as they are, they're just too underpowered to do anything useful.

October 11, 2009