Technology teacher Mary Beth Hertz
writes on Edutopia that teachers need to beware of the "dangerous"
stereotype that all students these days are ‘digital natives’. There are a lot of dangerous stereotypes out there. "Asian students are
always better at math." "Boys are always better at sports." And perhaps
the most dangerous of all: "The current generation are all digital
natives." Hertz says that just because students know how
to use technology doesn't mean they understand how to "create, read
critically, use online content responsibly," and be respectful of others
in the digital world. And those skills are necessary to be truly digitally
savvy, she contends.
Mary Hertz cites a study in which the
nonprofit organization One Laptop Per Child left pre-loaded tablets with
illiterate children in remote Ethiopian villages. The children quickly figured
out how to use the applications and began teaching themselves to read. Within a
few months they'd overridden the software meant to freeze the desktop settings,
and customized their devices. But Hertz
says this proves her point that being able to use technology does not make you
proficient:
“Sure, we can place a tablet in the
hands of children who have never seen a package label or a sign, and they will
learn on their own. But what happens when and if those children become
connected to the larger, global online community? It is not guaranteed that
they will be ready to navigate etiquette and intellectual property rights on
their own. “
Instead, Hertz writes, we should
call students "digital citizens," which implies a more complicated
relationship with technology—not innate proficiency.
She is not the first to argue that
teachers cannot assume students know how to properly navigate the digital
world. Jody Passanisi and Shara Peters said in Scientific American that students struggle with basic Internet
searches, and a majority of teachers in a recent Pew Research Center survey
said students need more training in finding credible information online.
Perhaps
Hertz' claim boils down to semantics. Aren't 'digital natives' simply those who've only known a world in which
electronic devices are the primary means of accessing information? The term brings to mind this video.
