Digitalnatives Just two weeks ago I was referring to myself as a digital immigrant in a blog post.

Then last week I heard Brad King speak at TEDxCincy. And now this week I want to retract my classification as it reinforces the term digital native.

In King’s TED talk, “Telling Stories on the World,” he details how technology is changing the way we tell stories. And one of my favorite points from his talk is when he declares the death of the digital native.

“It gives me great pleasure to note that there is no such thing as a digital native. Many Americans grew up speaking English. It’s their native tongue. Yet they still study the subject in school. So why wouldn’t students that grew up immersed in digital technology also need to study accordingly?” paraphrased from my notes vs. a verbatim quote. RELATED: Shut your digital native pie hole.

Education on Digital Issues
Recent cases of sexting and cyber bullying, as well as the constant concern of privacy in a world where Facebook frequently changes the rules, remind us how important this digital education has become.

Is the term digital native well-intended? Sure. But in some instances I wonder if it becomes an artificial excuse to avoid acclimating to the changes brought on by digital technology over the years.

We have a responsibility to teach younger generations how it all works. If we try and block access to keep it out of the schools we are not protecting students over the long term. We’re ensuring their skills won’t be as relevant.

The biggest issues of social media and their use in a school setting are also their opportuniity. We need to educate instead of simply trying to avoid it altogether. 

Digital Natives uploaded by nudevinyl
Cross-posted to my work blog, Social Study

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