Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives

I think this is an issue I might like to look into in the future(and Siemens' writing is always worth a look if you're interested in anything elearning)... so no comment from me, but stashed away in my 'might be interesting' pile of educational goodness...

elearnspace: Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives: "Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives I don't like the terms 'digital immigrant' and 'digital native'. They misrepresent the true nature of learners and learning today. Unfortunately, they are also adopted by numerous trainers, teachers, and academics. While false, the immigrant/native distinction is one that can be readily understood and embraced by most people. It's a simple framework with which we can think, organize, and partially understand huge changes. As educators, we see that our students are different than we were/are (an experience that every generation in history has encountered). The distinction of immigrant/native may be accurate (i.e. that my children have grown up with digital tools and therefore cannot think of a time when they were without them, whereas I recall a time before email and laptops). What is wrong is the implications drawn from this distinction. And the age distinction is perhaps the most discriminatory. Yes, stats show that younger learners do different things with technology, that they use it more than previous generations, and so on. What is missing is an analysis of the depth of their understanding of technology. Most younger learners have a utilitarian understanding of technology. They know how to download, instant message, and participate in facebook. That is the focus of their current use of technology as a tool."