Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Marc Prensky's wrote of digital natives and digital immigrants as concepts that describe a divide through generations based off of technology adoption. He wrote that digital natives were individuals that have grown up in a technology based world with computers, phones, and the internet. These individuals have gotten so comfortable with technology and have been able to develop literature digitally as a part of their lives. On the other hand, digital immigrants are people who grew up in earlier times. People who did not grow up with any digital technology and have had to learn how to operate technology later in their lives. Marc Prensky also said that this divide between these two generations has had a significant impact on how students have been able to learn in schools and at home. Long story short, he claims that digital natives are more likely to adapt and learn new information, and digital immigrants are more likely to struggle learning to adapt and learn methods of the new world.

On the other hand, the terms "digital immigrant" and "digital natives" have faced different interpretation and evaluation over time. Scholars like Paul Kirschner have challenged Prensky's. He argued that he point of views were too simplified and did not show the issues between the ages of skills and preferences through technology. Paul Kirschner thought that digital natives and immigrants told a false relation to what the terms "should have fortold" and that they overlooked how education impacted ones learning ability and shaping them through technological proficiency.