WEEK 8. Article 4 Arguments

In your blog, write a paragraph (or two) about your disagreements with each article
My first argument with this article is summed up in the title ‘are they really digital natives?’ The article goes on to analyse a variety of digital technologies and student’s use of them. The title implies that students may not be classed as DN’s because their use of digital technologies is often limited to the more common technologies. I would question that this does not mean they are not digital natives; how many people actually know how to use a variety of more complex and lesser known technologies? Does this mean they are not natives? I would suggest that to be classed a digital native should not mean having to use all digital technologies but should be based on a good grasp and high usage of the more common technologies.
Secondly, the article suggests “The second aim was to determine the degree to which students themselves report wanting to use particular technologies to support their studies at university”. Because of the nature of the study (based on questionnaires), i think it is hard to ask students to make this kind of connections in analysing themselves and may not provide accurate results. Although students may choose not to use the technologies in their studies, this is not to say the technology hadn’t affected their ways of thinking and processing info as Prensky argued. Their nativism may still mean they are better suited to process info but haven’t equated this to using technologies within the classroom when questioned.
Overall I think the article doesn’t give enough attention to the idea that Digital nativism isn’t just about direct use of the technologies themselves but that it actually changes the way digital natives think and learn. This suggests that a questionnaire about student’s perceived use of technology may not be a suitable way to investigate the topic.