Digital natives, a different generation of children
The term "digital native" was coined for the first time in 2001 by the American author Marc Prensky to name those that have been born and developed within a context that familiarizes them with the culture of new technologies.
In contrast to the digital natives, we hear about "digital immigrants" on numerous occasions. In this case, we refer to those who were born before the technological boom that the world has lived since 1980. They are people who find it harder to adapt and learn to function in a world where technology is constantly changing.
Parents and educators are often pigeonholed in this last group, the group of "digital immigrants", since they see the digital world not as something of theirs but as a new world to explore and to which they have no choice but to join in order not to lose the train that their own children have taken.
Why is this distrust among parents in the face of new technologies? Are our children different from those of past ages? Never a generation is the same as the previous one. Each time is enough for him and he has more than enough with his own circumstances, but we can say that yes, our children live in a multi-screen society and a changing environment that makes them different and recognized as digital natives.
Characteristics of digital natives
Today's parents educate a generation of digital natives which has the following characteristics:
- Equipped generation: in Spanish homes there are more devices than family members: television, tablet, console, computer, mobile ...
- Autodidact: The digital natives learn on their own due to the ignorance and lack of training of their parents.
- Mobilized: The digital natives were born and raised with a mobile phone in their pocket.
- Having fun in digital: The multiplicity of channels and devices has exponentially increased the leisure offer of digital natives.
- Interactive: they are able to study, read and buy through the same screen.
- Socially oriented: his preferred verb is to "share" his experiences in real time.
According to Prensky, "Native Digital is comfortable with technology to the point that it understands it as something that complements their daily life and improves it". However, although they use technology naturally, experts say they do not do it in a profitable way.
Young people surf, play or chat with their friends through their innumerable screens but they do not dominate the technology nor do they know how to make good use of it because nobody has taught them.
Parents and educators, despite being part of the group of "digital immigrants", we must put the means to sew that digital divide that separates us from the "digital natives" through careful training.
What attitude can parents have to better know digital natives?
- Form yourself. The network is full of interesting websites that are accessible to anyone. Go to training sessions of your town hall, the school of your children, ask for references, read books of experts that enrich you as a parent.
- Tangle.Dedicate time to new technologies and take advantage of their advantages. Try asking your children to show you how they use their devices, applications or the latest social networks. Open an account with them and invest time in learning.
- Be your reference.Just as we try to be a valid interlocutor for them in the real world, it works because you are also their reference in their digital world. At the end of the day for the digital natives there are no barriers between one world and the other but it is the same and you as a father must be part of it.
- Think positive.Try to see technology not as an enemy but as an ally. Highlight the advantages of living in a connected world and do not list the dangers one and a thousand times without giving them solutions.
- Give a good example. Possibly how parents use screens will depend largely on their use of them. Take care of family moments, the digital disconnection at certain times of the day, the cultivation of personal interiority, the spaces of silence.
María Zalbidea Blog Director Sewing the digital divide
