Natives and Immigrants: Closing the Digital Generation Gap

A YouTube video was posted by the parent of a one-year-old in 2011, which featured the toddler playing with an iPad. The youngster smiles and laughs as she swipes her tiny fingers across the screen and makes the images magically disappear and morph into new ones. The parent then plays a cruel trick on the child. He swaps the tablet with a non-digital magazine. The magazine has just as many colorful images on the cover as the iPad, but the images do not change with a finger swipe. In just a few short moments, the toddler becomes visibly frustrated and upset. The father cleverly entitles the video, “A magazine is an iPad that does not work.” Perhaps an extreme example, but the one-minute video clip provides a brilliant illustration of how technology has fundamentally changed the way we see and interact with the world. The technology surrounding us continues to be a lever for the evolution of human behavior. In particular, Prensky (2001) described the resultant dissemination of technology to younger generations as the creation of “digital natives.” According to Prensky, the average young college graduate has spent an estimated 5,000 hours of reading in his or her lifetime. The same young adult reportedly has logged over 10,000 hours playing video games. You can double the last number for television-viewing, while computer games, email, Internet, and text messaging are not included.