Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants - Prensky and Spiegel in Conversation

In the article, Prensky Revisited: Is the Term “Digital Native” Still Applicable to Today’s Learner? by Jennifer Spiegel, Spiegel argues that Prenksy’s term “digital native” is unfit to define the today’s generation of learners and their technology skill sets, writing “[c]learly the term “digital native” is now outmoded. Prensky made a mistake by assuming that one term adequately describes all digital youth,” (Spiegel 12).

I agree with Spiegel that the term’ digital native’ ironically feels dated, despite Prensky’s best attempts to ascribe it to a new, fast-paced generation. The way the term’ digital native’ is defined is far too broad for the generational generalization that Prensky seems to be attempting. “Prensky defines digital natives as those who have “spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age” (Prensky 2001; Speigel 2021). The binary that is “digital native” versus “digital immigrant” feels somewhat ageist and does not speak to the nuances present when it comes to technological abilities in the digital age.

For Spiegel, educators who are classified as “digital immigrants” rather than “digital natives” by Prensky are, in fact, members of the “digital native” population, despite the generational gap. Spiegel fits the description of a “digital native,” and in reflecting on her own upbringing in relation to this new cohort of young learners, Spiegel poses two questions that challenge the term “digital native.”

1. If the teaching staff of most schools today are digital natives, how can we define our students in this historical moment?
2. How can we engage this new group of students in our classrooms?

Throughout the article Spiegel highlights the need for different terms/different levels of classification for not only the younger generation of digital users but all digital users broadly, writing, “I learned that I had wrongly identified these “digital natives” and I began to question if that term was still applicable to the teens I was teaching,” (Spiegel 12).

Spiegel takes issue with the assumption that children across the board are already adept at using technology in its various forms, simply by engaging with particular devices. Spiegel argues that this assumption leads educational stakeholders to “eliminate the teaching of foundational skills necessary to operate the equipment [school technology] productively” (Spiegel 13). This is something that rings true, as I have seen it firsthand with my students when it comes to the use of Chromebooks for academic purposes. Although students are eager to use their Chromebooks, they often lack a complete understanding of how to use them academically, frequently struggling with basic computational inputs, such as CTRL+C and CTRL+V, to copy and paste content from one place to another.

Unlike Prensky, Spiegel acknowledges that generation does not play a role in one’s technological abilities and proposes new terminology to understand and define the skills and experience gap present in educational circles and society broadly as we progress through the digital era.

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“Digital Creators” - Engage the digital realm by creating content in the form of selfies, social media posts, and other contributions to online platforms. Digital creators often produce visually based pieces, such as photos and videos, so they may not be skilled at creating text-based projects, like short stories or poems.

“Digital Socialites” - They are comfortable with and adept at using Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms for social communication. Still, they may lack the ability to utilize technological platforms for purposes beyond social communication.

“Digital Gamer” - These users engage in gaming for entertainment only. They do not seek to learn from or create the games themselves. The gaming environment may offer an escape, similar to watching films or reading books, or provide a space for social interaction with other gamers.

“Digital Worker” - In this case, technology users are adept at only what is needed for them to do specific jobs. This might include the use of email, data entry, word processing, and data management skills. Unfortunately, for our young people, these are skills that schools have largely neglected under the assumption that digital natives already possess the necessary knowledge for the workplace.