My students are Digital Natives for sure - many have experience with technology and have grown up surrounded by it. However, there are still a lot of struggling families in my district and many don't have regular access at home. The district got a grant before I started teaching there and we were able to buy a TON of technology for the school, so many of the students can access technology when they want/need at school (though that's really still not enough and much of what we have is already outdated!). Their personal use of technology seems to surround mostly texting, facebook, twitter, and occasionally I've heard mention of a blog. Otherwise, they are great with the technology used in their classes, but that's not what they spend their personal time on. There are a lot of technologies I could use to engage them, but there are few that I am familiar with and even fewer that I've used. I got interactive software for my Family Management class (which will be taught by someone else next year) which simulates moving out and living on your own - making decisions. I would love to find more things like that which would work for other purposes (and which wouldn't cost as much or take 2 years to get installed...). My perceptions have definitely changed. Honestly, I know the Digital Native article was labeled as dated, but I learned a lot from it. It brings some things into perspective and it's a great way of explaining the difference between me and my students. Knowing that difference helps when trying to bridge the gap.
So when you are evaluating a student's literacy, it's important to realize you can't cloud your judgement of their skill by taking into consideration your own skill - in other words, just because they are in a digital native generation and I am not doesn't mean that each student has those skills! For example, there have been times that I've taken for granted that the students all know how to use _ (insert name of any technology tool here) because I've heard other teachers have used it or they are in a school with so much access or whatever other reason. Instead though, I went to use (same technology) and found that some of my students were clueless on how to use it until I gave them a brief tutorial. Each student must be considered individually when you are assessing their comfort level and helping to push them past their comfort level to do more with technology.
My students are Digital Natives for sure - many have experience with technology and have grown up surrounded by it. However, there are still a lot of struggling families in my district and many don't have regular access at home. The district got a grant before I started teaching there and we were able to buy a TON of technology for the school, so many of the students can access technology when they want/need at school (though that's really still not enough and much of what we have is already outdated!). Their personal use of technology seems to surround mostly texting, facebook, twitter, and occasionally I've heard mention of a blog. Otherwise, they are great with the technology used in their classes, but that's not what they spend their personal time on. There are a lot of technologies I could use to engage them, but there are few that I am familiar with and even fewer that I've used. I got interactive software for my Family Management class (which will be taught by someone else next year) which simulates moving out and living on your own - making decisions. I would love to find more things like that which would work for other purposes (and which wouldn't cost as much or take 2 years to get installed...). My perceptions have definitely changed. Honestly, I know the Digital Native article was labeled as dated, but I learned a lot from it. It brings some things into perspective and it's a great way of explaining the difference between me and my students. Knowing that difference helps when trying to bridge the gap.
So when you are evaluating a student's literacy, it's important to realize you can't cloud your judgement of their skill by taking into consideration your own skill - in other words, just because they are in a digital native generation and I am not doesn't mean that each student has those skills! For example, there have been times that I've taken for granted that the students all know how to use _ (insert name of any technology tool here) because I've heard other teachers have used it or they are in a school with so much access or whatever other reason. Instead though, I went to use (same technology) and found that some of my students were clueless on how to use it until I gave them a brief tutorial. Each student must be considered individually when you are assessing their comfort level and helping to push them past their comfort level to do more with technology.
Prensky, Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 2001. https://kud2l.kutztown.edu/content/enforced/619067-ITC_525_801_2012SUMMER-1/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=lAOcyZsQFlSVjj597hyjVy5sV.