Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants - Are we using the correct terminology here?

The past few years, many technology users have borrowed the terminology, "Digital Immigrants" to talk about adults and teachers in general, and the term "Digital Natives" to talk about our students and young adults. Like the use of "Generation Y" and "Generation X" versus the "Baby Boomers", we still try to classify citizens into some group, whether or not they truly belong there.

Yesterday, I actually noted that someone is using this idea, "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants" to title an entire day's presentation. Isn't that just a bit of overkill? Having watched teachers and students interact with technology in the classroom for many years, I've come to conclusion that using these terms can be bogus. We use them as excuses all the time.

When it comes to learning, the term "LEARNING" should be the primary concern of all of us as educators. I see plenty of young adults and students that are very good users of digital technology, but they haven't much of an idea of what constitutes verifiable information. Many don't demonstrate good search techniques, understanding of documentation, how to follow links to find new information. Some of the demonstrations of learning they create for class are more a demonstration of skills than a demonstration of mastery. They don't seem to have a very good understanding of what 21st Century Skills should be all about.

Many teachers don't, either. This moves us back to a more level playing field, as it were, regarding making successful use of digital tools for learning and as a way to demonstrate deep understanding of issues and content. Think about just how long some of these technologies have been available. The term 'weblog' was first used by John Barger, a member of MY generation, in 1997. The term 'Web 2.0' to define the read/write interactive, participatory web only goes back to 2004. In these areas, we are all "Digital Immigrants" no matter what our age.

We need to go back to some of the basics for all of us, teachers and students alike:
What is it I already know?
What do I need to find out?
Where is the best source for this?
How do I best use technology tools and resources to accomplish this?
What search techniques, search engines, databases would be the best place to begin looking?
What technology tools will I use to demonstrate my thoughts and ideas - to show my learning?
How will I document the resources I found?

If you feel you are one of those educators that needs some assistance using 21st Century tools, then be the one that says I want to learn! Take an online class, go to a workshop, visit with teachers in your building (like your media specialist) that can help you. You know if you are one of those that is using this 'Digital Immigrant' status as an excuse! Give it up - join the learners - you'll be glad you did, and you will most likely find that your career is rejuvenated as a result.