Digital World
The digital world has progressively made itself more and more present as the days continue to go by. In the visitor and resident video we watched on canvas, it was described that age has become a predominant factor to people ability to navigate through the digital world. The reason for this is because if you had access to the Internet growing up you would most likely have learned to use It and know more of Its capabilities rather than if you grew up without the Internet and tried to learn how to navigate It later on in your life when you had already learned how to go through life without It. I think the assumptions about the relationship between age and people ability to use the Internet efficiently is very accurate, simply because I have experienced it first hand and that Is a very logical assumption. I think that most kids now a days have access to digital life and that allows them to figure out how to use the internet to their own advantage growing up at a young age while will ultimately allow them to have these resourceful abilities at their fingertips starting from a young age. Starting at a young age In the digital world Is very Important because if not started while young, these kids/teens will feel no need to learn the digital ways of the Internet because they’ve already gone through many years of their lives without it.
When reviewing the video and articles online, and thinking to myself I view myself as a digital native. I grew up with all different kinds of digital accessibilities around my house. Whether It was gaming consoles, the computer, flat screen televisions I grew up during what I would consider the the peak of technological improvements. I learned quickly how to access and navigate the internet through school and at my home as a young kid and never went back to a life without technology after that because I simply saw my life becoming more and more simplistic. I now am on a multitude of different social media platforms becoming a resident to many different applications and see the digital world In my life each and every day, especially recently with everything thats going on in our world.
One key point from the Mesch article was the point of technological determinism. This is something that I can relate with because my three younger brothers who if given the opportunity will sit with their eyes glued to a screen all day. This viewpoint of technology within children in modern day states that it “presents the internet as an innovative force that has profound Influence on children and youth”. This description of technological determinism is very accurate considering how much the Internet does Impact not only youth, but young adults too. The media-rich environment (page 2, Mesch article) that we live In today has become often the only thing that children will want to occupy their leisure time with nowadays, which Is what this article was getting at with the internet In youth culture and the positive and negative effects It may have. An additional point from the White & Le Cornu article was the main point regarding ”digital natives”. People who are at ease with the digital culture that has come about our society versus the people that manage to exist In the digital culture but will never be at ease with it. Prensky wanted to evaluate the difference between these two perspectives about the technological world that we live In today. He mentions the benefits which include more knowledge because of the easy accessibility that the Internet provides. He also talks about the different learning styles so really these two perspectives really just depend on the learning style that you prefer which can lead back into the age factor we referenced earlier from the video on canvas because of how you are raised as a child whether that was with or without the Internet.
