I can't complain when I get introduced before a lecture
as one of the pioneers of the educational internet
in Israel. Quite frankly, it's an honor. But it seems that it's a short lived one. The benefits
of being a pioneer seem to be dwarfed by the crutches, or the wheelchair, that
people seem to expect as an accessory to that status. Perhaps I'm a pioneer,
but in today's digital landscape, it seems that I'm viewed more as a dinosaur.
Internet generations seem to come and go so quickly
that even generation x'ers are viewed by some members of younger generations as properly residing in the geriatric
ward. Whatever I may try to do to prove how much I'm still aware of what's happening
on the internet front, new protocols, new tools, and new generations (with an
ever increasing number of names) are always springing up to let me know that
I'm outdated.
How outdated? Well, it seems that, a number of years ago
already, I've been demoted. Rather than being a pioneer, it turns out that I'm
an immigrant. Is there a difference? Perhaps not. After all, many pioneers are often, at least
at the outset, immigrants. But yes, there is a difference, even if it's primarily
semantic. As a pioneer I was someone who braved out into yet unmapped territory,
someone who took chances. As an immigrant I've become someone who, for
at least one of a number of possible reasons, has simply passively decided to cast
my lot in surroundings where the fishing conveniently seems better.
As a digital immigrant, I'm apparently never going to be able to truly feel
at home in a digital environment. While all around me kids will be instant messaging
between groups of friends on their cellulars, barely giving a second thought
to the technology they're using, I'll still be sitting in front of a computer
screen within my email program, writing letters - the sort of thing that might get printed
out on paper - enthralled by the wonders of such a tool. For the immigrant,
tasting from the tree of digitality is perhaps similar to tasting the fruit
of the Tree of Knowledge. Having tasted from it, I'll never be able to return
to my pre-digital homeland. But I'll apparently also never be fully integrated
into the digital promised land.
Although there seems always to be a market for nostalgia,
there doesn't seem to be much interest in ragged immigrants, huddled over the
side of the ship, straining to get a glimpse of digital-land. Perhaps in the
eyes of the natives we're too much of a reminder of their plebian roots. Nobody
is keeping these immigrants out, but nobody seems to be holding the door wide
open for them either. They're pretty clearly not the
market for third generation cellphones. It's the natives who are in, who
command attention. But it's not because immigrants can be a potentially lucrative
market that they merit respect. Respect is their due because they're the people
who can best figure out what to do with all the new tools that are constantly
appearing on the scene. Sure, natives may adapt to using new tools more quickly,
but if it's a tool that actually makes life more engaging, that creates a tangible advantage
over our pre-digital lives, it's the immigrants who are going to understand what
to do with it. Taking something for granted
isn't necessarily a virtue.
This is particularly true within an educational setting
(which can, of course, also be simply at home). The assumption that pupils,
simply because they're digital natives, know how to use a tool well before their
teachers, is still widespread throughout the educational system. But prevalent or not, it's also a very inaccurate
description of reality. Examples of pupils who have access to digital tools,
but neither know, nor understand, what to do
with them, can be found on every level of schooling. Natives who disregard the
experience and expertise that immigrants bring with them are in danger of realizing
only a small part of the potential of the digital world. Today's natives are in great
need of the perceptions and the understandings that digital immigrants packed
with them when they came to this new landscape. If the natives will let these immigrants unpack and settle the territory, they've got an awful lot to gain. So if I'm going to be
perceived as an immigrant, I can't complain. Our knowledge of what things were like "back
then" is precisely what enables us to envision how digital tools can truly have a powerful and empowering
impact on the here and now.
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