Digital Native or Digital Immigrant?

After taking the digital natives quiz, I will concede that I am a digital immigrant – but I do know what blogs and IM’s are. I feel like a lot of the terms and new ideas in the digital age are dependent on exposure and what a person enjoys. For example, the first time I used a blog was this past semester in another class; I would not have chosen to use one otherwise. On the other hand, I have a few friends with personal blogs, but that is what interests them.

In terms of emergent digital literacy, I feel like the more comfortable I become in one area (blogs), the more comfortable I will be in other areas. For example, in my mind blogs and wiki’s go together, but I have only used blogs; perhaps in the future I will be able to expand into wiki’s because I have a foreground of blogging to base that experience on. Also, although I personally feel unsure about some of the new technology, I know that it is beneficial for my future students to know and be familiar with technology, as our everyday lives are more and more integrated within a technological world.

In some ways, I can see the parallels between emergent digital literacy and emergent literacy in children. For instance, reading and writing is often something that children are familiar with but do not know the rules to; the same is true for myself as an emergent technology learner. In addition, my learning of technology will best be helped by scaffolding and modeling, which are also appropriate ways to teach literacy to young children.

One area where I do not see the two ideas merge is the fact that literacy is something that all children learn and develop in. However, as I mentioned above, I probably would not have taken the incentive to start a blog had it not been for a course. Thus, I wonder if I will ever truly emerge in the digital world without taking the initiative myself.

Hope that makes sense...Happy Tuesday