Prensky and boyd's positions

What do you make of the (divergent) positions of Boyd and Prensky? Where do you stand on the “digital native” terminology? 

Marc Prensky's position is that children and young people are "digital natives" because they are brought up in a world with access to technology while older people are "digital immigrants" because the world of technology is foreign to them and they spend their lives learning and adopting the aspects of technology, as a new culture and language. 

danah boyd critiques this theory by making the point that young people, regardless of being born into a world where technology is so prevalent, have varying levels of experience and knowledge around technology and prensky's standpoint doesn't consider the varying levels of privilege that determine young people's access to technology and how that affects their ability to navigate the digital world. boyd's position made me think about how although I was born in 1999, because we were extremely poor, my family was always behind a generation or two of technology and I was able to experience the 1980's and 1990's technology. When we did have new technology, such as gameboys, cd players, mp3 players, it was always because newer technology was released and my mom was able to find cheap deals on the older versions. I actually appreciate these experiences and memories and I'm now caught up to the latest technology, but not everyone has that opportunity and privilege to access technology at home or at all. 

Prensky's position is very euro-centric and doesn't at all consider the experiences of people in countries/communities/societies that may not have access to certain technologies, may not be able to incorporate it into the educational systems, or simply may not value the use of technology as much as we do in the Western world. Prensky also doesn't take into account that even for young people, technology can come with challenges. As boyd states, The rhetoric of “digital natives,” far from being useful, is often a distraction to understanding the challenges that youth face in a networked world," (boyd, 176). By assuming that young people have a natural gift of navigating it, we are neglecting to provide them the support they need as they confront these challenges. In page 177, boyd states, "Whether in school or in informal settings, youth need opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to engage with contemporary technology effectively and meaningfully. Becoming literate in a networked age requires hard work, regardless of age." We are doing a disservice to our youth by not incorporating learning into the use of technology and acknowledging that there is more to technology than simply being exposed to it. All of us regardless of age, have learning to do when it comes to technology to be able to usefully and meaningfully engage with ourselves and each other in the digital world. 

I wanted to include a picture that portrays the differences in access to technology, specifically during virtual learning instances, but blogger wouldn't let me be great, so here is the link to the picture and its accompanying article that is also relevant: https://www.jackcentral.org/opinion/it-is-a-privilege-to-have-access-to-technology/article_60aca126-f084-54ca-a2b6-40c2a6796bb6.html