Technology and Modern Students—The Digital Natives Fallacy

Abstract

The concept of the Digital Native, despite its clear failings and substantive criticism, persists in common use, frequently and unhelpfully creating a divisive narrative of intergenerational difference that inhibits sense-making. Examples of the confrontation and disjunction caused by this failed model include the conflict over patterns of device use by students and the expectations of faculty used to different ways of learning. The failings of this model, however, provide an opportunity to explore more deeply the evolving literacies that are enabled by digital technologies and their impact on learning.