Do we really need to inform today's generation about being digital?
I went to Comet with my four year old the other day, and as I went on about my business trying to find a good telly, he stealthy walked off to the 'Tablets' section, picked up a demo Ipad 2 and swiped his little fingers to some game apps, took a few pictures's of his little round face, and when he was finished, he came and found me and demanded I bought him an Ipad. He dragged me to the gadget and showed me all the amazing things you could do with it...
That evening, a friend of mine (25years older than my son) came to visit and knowing he wanted to shoot off, I informed him I had an app on my android that would inform him what time the bus is coming so he didn't have to wait in the cold. Looking at me funny he asks..what is an android?..before I could even answer, my son runs over, grabs my phone and says I will show you how to find the bus times and of course he did..
See, I never expected my nearly 30 year old guest not to know about this whole 'android/apps world' because you see my four year old 'knows it all'! I then realised that it is easy to make assumptions about people's abilities and knowledge regarding the digital world and technology.
So back to the question, do we really need to inform this generation about being digital? I think the answer is........'it depends'..(eyes wide open...shrugging my shoulders). Maybe if I took the word 'generation' out of the question and replaced it with 'people in general'.. then the answer would be....YES!
In our IRG meeting least week we discussed a few factors that would be taken into consideration when we think about people and issues relating to digital literacies. One of the factors that I placed high on my list was cognition. I believe it is important for people to understand why they need to be digitally literate. I think we need to start a revolution where we get people to start asking themselves questions like: Why do I need to know about the digital world? How will it help me? Where am I going to use the skills? When am I going to use them? If I dont jump on the digital wagon, then what? If they understand some of the answers to these questions, then maybe, just maybe they will not feel alienated by living, learning and working in this digital society.Oh wait..! and they will know to get an android phone, download the London Buses app, and save themselves time standing in the cold waiting for a bus that is 20 mins away!...ok Cynthia, enough already!.. Adios
Hi Cynthia - your story opens up a lot of questions in relation to education, not least questions about who the students at university are going to be in the coming years and what experiences are they going to bring with them - is it even possible to consider students as a homogeneous generation?
ReplyDeleteAntony, I’ve also got a 14yr old boy, and the knowledge and abilities he displays when it comes to being digitally literate are far more than you see in the older generation. It comes back to culture as an important aspect in digital literacies. Higher institution's in this country take on a wide range of students from around the world. Where and how you were raised plays a big role. Depending on what technologies where at their disposal while growing up, you will probably find that some like my son will have some knowledge while others who were not adventurous or had less 'techy' parents know very little. It’s therefore dangerous to assume that students can be homogeneous. I think strategies to educate digital literacy have to be varied. It’s also important to note that though the so called ‘digital natives’ might have all this technology at their disposal, and know how to work the latest gadget’s, it’s not necessarily true that they might know how to write a report and format well!....
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