Working in higher education administration at a large community college for the past 6 years, I have heard the term "digital natives" being thrown around quite a bit, mostly in reference to our students. When that occurs, it is clear that there is some idea that "young people" are somehow born with an innate understanding technology, and older folks have to work hard to learn it. Never mind that older Millennials (like myself), the original "Digital Natives" generation, are in their mid to late thirties now and are well established in their careers. We are the professors and teachers in many cases. This makes the idea that somehow our students are radically different from us even more questionable.

However, the Presnky (2001) article is my first encounter with the term "Digital Immigrants", which on face value seems innocent enough. However, as the description of digital immigrants continues in the article, I can't help but think that it is somewhat of a loaded, pejorative term. Comparing an accent that one might have while learning a second language to technological ineptitude seems a bit much, considering that one language is no better than another, depending on context, unlike the use of technology which is advantageous no matter where you are and what language you speak. Further, the statement that school for 'digital natives' "feels pretty much as if we’ve brought in a population of heavily accented, unintelligible foreigners to lecture them" (p. 2) smacks of colonial condescension, and paints actual immigrants in a less than favorable light. Yikes.

Young people of every generation are exposed to the technologies of their day earlier than their parents. There was a time when having caller ID on your home phone was a big deal, and prior to that just having a home phone was new. Television changed the way families and households socialize from the time if its inception. Transportation technology, medical technology, building technology, manufacturing technology, farming technology-all of these things have changed the way we as humans live, all the way back to the discovery of fire and creation of early tools.

I also agree with Sorrentino (2018) that  "the binary opposition digital natives/digital immigrants is quite problematic" (p. 4). It sets up opposing groups, one born after a certain time and naturally gifted with the understanding of technology, and the second an older, bumbling group who are scrambling to understand what is so easy for the first group.  Not only does this set up the 'digital natives' as superior, but it also doesn't allow for anything in-between. Older people who are better with technology than a younger person cannot exist-they can only be on par. Young people who are terrible with technology also cannot exist, since their brains are fundamentally wired for such tasks. I think it is much more likely that skill with technology exists on a scale, regardless of age.