Although, according to Prensky the general age of an immigrant is over 25 (although he states that there isnt really an age limit) I know someone, although not so much anymore, who is my age and could be classed as a digital immigrant. When I was still at school I was quite friendly with this girl who lived basically in the countryside. Her parents owned a very traditional farm and were very much brought up traditionally and without any technology which would be invented etc. She only ever got a mobile phone in her last year of school as her parents decided she needed one as she was beginning to go out drinking. Her mum didnt have a mobile but her dad did for business reasons. They had no computer as her dad did all the farm stuff over the one landline telephone they had in the house.
When she came to my school (she moved from a school nearer her for a better education in lower sixth) she was none the wiser to why we all had mobile phones, watched TV every night and constantly sat on MSN talking about anything and everything. She didnt really get it. But to be honest I didnt really blame her because she wasnt brought up around it. She was brought up the same way as her parents, therefore ignorant of any technological advances. This sounds like a child in the 60's but in fact this was after the millenium. So she definately classes as the youngest digital immigrant I know. She has now gone to university and has facebook so she probably has now caught up with what she lacked before, but until last year this was completely different. I couldnt think of anyone I knew now but I thought that she was a very good example even if it is a year or two out of date!
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3 comments:
Maybe then from what you say sarah that it could depend on the way you are brought up. If your parents can't afford it or simply don't want you to have it or even that they just never have used technology much themelves then this is why maybe some young people are not very educated in technology as they havn't been brought up with it as much as say other children have. This could also reflect that because your friend was brought up in the country side that whereabouts you live could depend on how digitaly native you are. Maybe people who have grown up in the city will have more inetreaction with modern technology than people who live out in the country side will?
yes this is also true Helen, I have a friend who lives way out in the country in Ireland, and her house only got enough signal to make it worth having the internet a few years ago. Her main access to it was in school but she wasn't that bothered by it, as all of us who could check our emails and social networks at home, whereas is school all this was blocked from the network. She's had a mobile about the same length of time as the rest of us but when she's at home she doesn't normally have much signal and therefore doesn't rely on it as much as us.
Sarah,
This is a useful post here. I think your friend would work well as a young digital immigrant example. I would be interested to see how your friend spent her time, if she wasn't using all this technology? It perhaps does say something about upbringing or the envrionment you're raised in?
All the best
Emma
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