Digital Native or Immigrant?

9/11/2012

3 Comments

 
When I read the article about being a digital native and digital immigrant I found it pretty interesting. It is weird to think that even though I would be considered a digital native, someone so close to me such as my parents would be considered digital immigrants. I remember my mom not getting her first cell phone until around the age of forty. I got my first cell phone in seventh grade. Having digital technology has become a natural part of every day life. What was it like for your parents growing up probably as digital immigrants? My parents are quick learners and have become more advanced in the digital technology. However, I know for my grandparents, for instance, they are technologically illiterate and are constantly asking me how to work the computer. Do you think that having a more technologically advanced society now has made things easier or complicated life by maybe having a more distant and not as intimate society?
3 Comments
Carly Rothenberg link
9/12/2012 10:05:58 am

I completely agree that it is insane that our generation and our parents generation are so different with the use of technology. I definitely agree that I am a digital native and my parents are digital immigrants. However, my parents are very good at learning the new ways. There are some things that they do have some trouble getting used to. For example, my mom, a CT technologist, knows how to work a million dollar machine but doesn't know how to copy and paste on the computer. Additionally, she needed to go to a tutorial class in order to learn her ipad. My dad can use computers and cell phones but some features that are more advanced he has trouble with.

I think having so much technology has its positives and negatives. For example, I am able to stay connected to all of my friends away at different colleges and my family at home. We can skype, text, instant message, and stay connected through social media and websites. For example, I am able to talk to my friend in London, with a simple push of a button. However, it is negative, as well. I find that it does disconnect society in some ways. For example, if my roommates and I are all sitting in the same room, we may barely talk to each other because we are preoccupied with texting someone or chatting with someone online.

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Daniel Berenato
9/15/2012 10:07:14 am

I agree, It is weird to see such a difference in the way we think from our parents. There is a wide digital divide between my parents and I. They first started indulging in technology in 2010 when they bought an Apple iMac for house-use. Though they had the hang of most of it, they would always ask me for assistance too.

I believe that a technology completely reformatted the way humans interact. Though less aesthetic than normal communication, inventions such as the internet and the computer have pushed human efficiency way beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined. I know that I can not even imagine a world without a laptop or mobile device. I believe the future of technology holds for us a more simplified and accessible world.

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Laura Kennedy
9/16/2012 11:29:47 am

I definitely think that technology has shaped the world into a very different place than what our parents and grandparents are used to. The strange thing for me to think of is that my 2 year old niece already knows how to use an ipad and iphone and my Mom was completely an immigrant to all of it. Makes me wonder that one day, my kids will have technologies that even I can't grasp even though I am very fluent in our technologies of today. My Nana just bought and iphone but she actually picks things up pretty quickly. She always wants to buy the new phones and computers but the fact that she doesn't know how to use them doesn't stop her from buying them. She's eager to learn about them so I am always available to help her. My mom has become more of a native now but my grandmother is straddling the boarder. I just wonder what other technologies are yet to appear in this world. When my Nana was 24, I don't think she thought that one day, her granddaughter would be able to send a video or picture of herself through a machine where you used the tip of your finger to work it. So here I am, 24, wondering what my grandkids are going to be able to do by the time I'm in my 70s.

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