I May Not Be a Native, But I’m a Naturalized Digital Citizen…

Originally published here on July 8, 2008.

I was a little miffed when I first came across the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants. The tone of the piece I was reading seemed to imply that it was somehow better to be a digital native. I didn't grow up with technology, so that makes me an immigrant to the digital world, regardless of my level of proficiency...

My first memorable experience with technology was in high school. I had this thing that was a cross between a typewriter and a word processer. Its memory held a full page and it printed that out on thermal paper. Jimmy Carter was President at the time and there weren't a lot of actual laptops around. I was almost an adult, and I'd grown up with a pencil in my hand, listening to music that was recorded on cassette tapes or pressed in vinyl.

Having acknowledged that I didn't actually grow up with technology I must say that, as I look back now, I've had a keyboard for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when I got my first email address. Today my music is mostly in MP3 format, my camera is digital, I write HTML, I transfer files, I email my Mom, I take classes online, I use a SmartBoard in my classroom, and so on. I've blogged and I've telecommuted. And (I admit it) I've even Googled myself. But I'm not a digital native, I learned. For some reason I found that irritating, at first.

As I became a little more familiar with the concepts, I realized that being a digital immigrant (as opposed to a digital native) had more to with learning styles and social patterns than with competency per se. That made it a little easier to accept. And after thinking about it for a while I decided that I am as at home in the blogosphere, in cyberspace and in digital reality as most teenagers I know. Whether I am a native or an immigrant, I'm a digital citizen. Naturalized, perhaps - but still a citizen...

As a naturalized digital citizen (an NDC) I've thought occasionally about the people around my school (and other places) who aren't very digital. What to call them? One suggestion I've heard is "dinosaurs" - digital dinosaurs. That may be nice imagery, but it seems inconsistent. It's, well, dehumanizing (since, after all, dinosuars weren't human). Somewhere else I came across the term digital refugee. That's closer. My problem I suppose is that refugee is a legal status. A refugee is a type of immigrant. I don't think of myself as anything like a refugee in the digital world - wishing that I could leave this place and go home.

Eventually I came up with the idea of a digital alien. There are teachers (and parents) who roam the halls of my increasingly digital school - and, yet, they don't speak the language. They don't understand that I wear my flash drive on a cord around my neck sometimes because it's geek jewelry. Oh well...

I'll probably talk more about the digital native v. digtal immigrant thing - especially since Ian Jukes is coming to speak to my county's teachers in August. For now I'll close by saying that I'm pleased to have an address in the blogosphere and proud to be an NDC.