Digital Native vs. Digital Immigrant

Speaker: Dr. Curtis Whitehair, Georgetown University

Marc Prensky coined the above two terms for the learners of today and yesterday. A detailed manuscript can be found here.

Those born in the current digital age are called digital natives as they speak the language and understand the multitasking when multiple tools are used. Studies have shown that they process learning differently. The language center is centered and developed differently than others. They read in an “F” pattern rather than most of us in a “Z” pattern. They prefer graphs, pictures and images rather than just verbal language.

Digital immigrants are some of us or older generation that is trying to understand the language of the digital natives.  Interestingly, some have coined terms such as digital resident and digital visitor to describe the learners.

More of a discussion on this topic happened on twitter at eAJKD handle. If you want to know how millennial you are take this test: http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/

Check out all of eAJKD’s coverage here and on Twitter (@eAJKD) on the Harvard Macy Institute’s “Become a Digital Citizen – Technology in Health Care Education” course.