Digital Natives: Myth or Fact?

This article, "Digital Natives: Myth or Fact?," by Nathan Bierma made a good argument about the difference between those who grew up with digital technology and those who didn't.  He argued even though the next generation grew up with digital technology that doesn't mean that past generations are slower and can't use it. To me this sounds more realistic than saying that older generations are clueless when it comes to computers; both of my Grandmothers operate Facebook accounts reasonably well by my standards. Even though I agree that all generations can learn to use digital technology, I would expect that younger generations would be able to learn how to use it faster. I'd argue that because their learning curve is still developing. On the other hand, older generations' learning curve has already grown quite a bit. They can still learn how to use the technology but it would take a bit longer.

Bierma also touched on how digital technology will impact education. He made a good point when he said,  

"The problem was that early research showed that the adoption of technology by those who supposedly had innate technical proficiency was in fact slow and varied. Only a minority of students used Web 2.0 tools—the holy grail of educational technology in the 2000′s—to create content on their own, and their access and use of technology was highly dependent on their socio-economic status. Educators also contended that the millennial generation’s engagement with technology tended to be shallow, consisting mostly of quick dips in the digital pool like checking email and Facebook. Selwyn called millennials’ use of technology “passive, solitary, sporadic and unspectacular”—not exactly the foundation for transforming education as we know it."

So again I agree, it's still going to take some time for society to figure out how to best use this technology in education, and society. As I read though however, Bierma makes it sound like that the change is going to be slow. I would say however that the change of using technology in the classroom has still been pretty quick. It’s happened over the past ten to twenty years. As I was preparing for college I downloaded one of my textbooks onto my laptop using kindle. My dad questioned me using my laptop in class because when he went to school they didn’t use them in class. To this my sweet mother replied, “that’s because we didn’t have computers back then dear.” I think that proves that change has happened between my generation and older generations.

Bierma also noted that not all people growing up in this new digital era use this kind of technology on a regular basis. I'm not even the best at using it. I've only been using blogger for the past month and that's just because I need to use it for English class. I'd admit that it is kind of fun. So the point here is that digital technology is changing us but with each generation that grows up using this technology, that doesn’t mean that they are vastly different than the last.

Purpose- Why is Bierma writing?

Bierma is writing to explain how digital technology is changing education and social life but it won’t reform it overnight.

Topic – What is Bierma writing about?

He is writing about how digital technology will impact us.

Issue- What is Bierma debating?

He is arguing that the next generation isn’t requiring education reform because they are growing up using digital technology.

Conclusion- How does Bierma conclude his argument?

He lets his audience know that anyone at any age can learn how to use digital technology and it will still take time before everyone uses it.