Comments on: Rob Wall on the Myth of Digital Natives http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/10/20/rob-wall-on-the-myth-of-digital-natives/ apparently much happier in person Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:03:04 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Sami Khan http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/10/20/rob-wall-on-the-myth-of-digital-natives/#comment-82424 Sami Khan Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 556040583#comment-82424 <a href="http://www.samikhan.org/2006/10/20/digital-immigrant-and-digital-native">Conversation continued...</a> Conversation continued…

]]> By: Rob Wall http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/10/20/rob-wall-on-the-myth-of-digital-natives/#comment-82429 Rob Wall Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 556040583#comment-82429 Thanks for elaborating on the ideas, D'Arcy. Like you, I would be classified as a digital immigrant, a classification I feel is absolutely ludicrous. I was programming in CompSci classes in 1985. I was writing (hideous looking) web pages in the early Netscape days (around 1994?). I've written pathetic content management systems (never again!). I've integrated blogging, wikis and podcasts into my classes. Most of the so-called digital natives would be hard pressed to do most of these things. <blockquote>Perhaps something more useful than a native/immigrant distinction (which is arbitrarily and artificially divisive) would be an understanding that there is a spectrum of incorporation of the network into the individual.</blockquote> Maybe that's the best way to conceptualize it. Every person falls somewhere on the spectrum, and we can't classify based on one's generation; we have to take each person as they are and not how they fit into our personal taxonomies. Expecting someone to be technologically fluent or deficient based on age is a form of bigotry. Thanks for elaborating on the ideas, D’Arcy. Like you, I would be classified as a digital immigrant, a classification I feel is absolutely ludicrous. I was programming in CompSci classes in 1985. I was writing (hideous looking) web pages in the early Netscape days (around 1994?). I’ve written pathetic content management systems (never again!). I’ve integrated blogging, wikis and podcasts into my classes. Most of the so-called digital natives would be hard pressed to do most of these things.

Perhaps something more useful than a native/immigrant distinction (which is arbitrarily and artificially divisive) would be an understanding that there is a spectrum of incorporation of the network into the individual.

Maybe that’s the best way to conceptualize it. Every person falls somewhere on the spectrum, and we can’t classify based on one’s generation; we have to take each person as they are and not how they fit into our personal taxonomies. Expecting someone to be technologically fluent or deficient based on age is a form of bigotry.

]]> By: Sami Khan http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/10/20/rob-wall-on-the-myth-of-digital-natives/#comment-82465 Sami Khan Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 556040583#comment-82465 The internet is a part of my life. I can't imagine living without it. In fact I also am wishing for a more mobile interface, and pretty much everywhere I go, I can find a need for my laptop from banking to jotting down thougts to being more productive... and I find that a pocketpc won't suffice -- I have one, it's useless. I can't imagine a world without the net, and it's a much more useful and fluent method of communication than even talking. It's also not interactive if you don't want it to be, so you can ignore or put off talking about anything as long as you would like. The internet is a part of my life. I can’t imagine living without it. In fact I also am wishing for a more mobile interface, and pretty much everywhere I go, I can find a need for my laptop from banking to jotting down thougts to being more productive… and I find that a pocketpc won’t suffice — I have one, it’s useless. I can’t imagine a world without the net, and it’s a much more useful and fluent method of communication than even talking. It’s also not interactive if you don’t want it to be, so you can ignore or put off talking about anything as long as you would like.

]]> By: dnorman http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/10/20/rob-wall-on-the-myth-of-digital-natives/#comment-82561 dnorman Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 556040583#comment-82561 Sami - interesting point about control. Maybe the "natives" are really just enabled control freaks :-) my dream tool is a Newton MessagePad 2007. Wifi/cellular internet access from anywhere with a signal. Able to run browsers, mail, vnc, IM, as well as all the cool stuff the Newton could do a decade ago. But faster, and in colour... That sucker would be like the PAD from 'Trek. Sami – interesting point about control. Maybe the “natives” are really just enabled control freaks :-)

my dream tool is a Newton MessagePad 2007. Wifi/cellular internet access from anywhere with a signal. Able to run browsers, mail, vnc, IM, as well as all the cool stuff the Newton could do a decade ago. But faster, and in colour… That sucker would be like the PAD from ‘Trek.

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