The youngest digital immigrant I know is a girl that I used to go to school with. She is now 20 years old and like her other siblings she has a very limited knowledge of technology. Her age would imply that she should be a digital native, but her family background prevented her from being this so she is therefore seen to be more of an immigrant. Her parents are naturalists and prefer the simpler things in life and do not agree with technologies such as televisions and computers. They do not have either of these forms of technology in their household. This can be seen as very rare nowadays as most household’s now have at least one of each of these appliances. Only her father has a mobile phone, but it is a very simplistic model which is out of date and is only used in emergencies.
From going to school with her and her younger brother I noticed that she didn’t seem to mind that she was unsure of how to work these technologies. Although it was sometimes highlighted when friends or teachers would mention programmes on television or websites that she had never heard of and therefore struggled to answer or express an opinion about. Her uncomfortable nature with technological appliances was implied when we had to use computers and the internet more in school lessons, as it took her longer to grasp skills on the computer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This reminds me of a (pretty wierd I have to say) family I know of back at home. They were the same, the mum and dad were completely against having a television in the house because they thought it was un-educational! I don't think these people were necessarily weird because they didn't want a tv, but it was their reasoning behind it. I wonder why these people do not agree with technology and where they get these pre-concieved ideas from?
ReplyDeleteDo you also thing there is a common age that people turn from immigrants to natives. From the blogs I have read so far the range seems to be from early twenties to early thirties.