Background notes: LEARNERS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

(by Peter Kemp)

N.B. these notes are intended as an introduction to the topic especially for those who have little prior
knowledge. They will introduce and explain the key terms and major issues in the topic. They are
notes – not a scholarly article and they are not referenced. You cannot refer to these notes in your
assignments. You should use them to get a basic grasp of the topic to support your reading.

Definitions of key terms

A wide range of terms have been used to describe the relationship of learners in the digital age. Here
I present the most commonly used definitions.

Digital Native - a term popularised by Marc Prensky in 2001. Prensky argued that people growing up
around technologies such as computers, mobiles phones, computer games and the internet would
have different behaviours and expectations from those people who grew up without them. Prensky
argued that digital natives, conditioned by the use of technology, would prefer to parallel process,
multi-task and learn through graphics rather than text. He argued for changes in the way we teach
children, to address these changing needs and learning styles. Names such as Generation-Z and
Homo-zapians are sometimes used interchangeably with the term digital native. Research into digital
natives found that their engagement with technologies is highly varied, meaning it is impossible to
label one group of people digital natives, based on their age.

Digital Immigrant - people who grew up without technology have had to immigrate into the digital
world. These people can be called digital immigrants and the modern digital world might be
unfamiliar to them as their learning styles and preferences will have been shaped by their pre-digital
upbringings. Digital immigrants might struggle to engage digital natives as they are speaking an
outdated language, this will have an impact for teachers who need to learn the technologies and
pedagogies to engage younger students. Training and technical support in digital technologies might
be necessary to upskill teachers to work in modern school systems. As mentioned above, general
characterisations of people as digital immigrants are not useful, as many older people will have a
better understanding of digital technologies than so-called digital natives. It really does depend on
the individual and their usage and interests, which are not defined by your date of birth.

Digital divide - The digital native idea assumes that most people of the same age will have similar
access and interaction with technology. Research has shown this to be untrue. There are many
factors that impact a person’s involvement with technologies, these include the area that they live,
the amount of money their family has, digital education, support from their family and local
community and cultural expectations placed on people in relation to their gender and religion. For
example people in London might have better internet access than those in rural Derbyshire, girls
might not be encouraged to use digital technology as much as boys, a family might not be able to
afford a laptop or have one laptop for a family of six. Governments try to address the digital divide by
local training initiatives, school curricula, provision of technology to homes and schools and larger
infrastructure work such as the installation of 5th generation phone masts.

Digital literacy - there are a range of definitions of digital literacy. Generally digital literacy refers to
the basic skills and knowledge needed by individuals to live in the digital world. These skills might
include the ability to use a mouse and keyboard, the use of office tools, the ability to search the web,
and the ability to use email systems. Other interpretations might include computer programming,
digital art tools and engaging with online communities.
Learning styles - the idea that different people have in-built preferences for learning in one particular
way or another, for example some people might think that they learn better through visual aids, and
others might think that they learn better through sound. Learning styles have been very popular in
business and education, with tests for children and adults to work out the best way that they learn.
The idea would then be for them to try and move focus on learning in a particular way. Research has
not supported the benefits of learning styles and many people call it a neuromyth.

Focus for research into digital learners

It is widely accepted that digital divides and different digital usage patterns amongst people have
made the digital native idea difficult to defend. Research into digital learners often focuses on the
digital divides that exist in societies, looking at the current situation and evaluating the impact of
different interventions on outcomes such as digital literacy. In many Western societies there are large
differences in uptake of digital qualifications amongst girls and boys. Girls are generally
under-represented, a pattern that exists in other STEM subjects. Interestingly, these differences do
not appear so much in other societies. The reasons for the poor uptake amongst girls include a lack
of suitable role models, poor media representations of girls in the digital workforce, poor awareness
amongst girls about careers in computing, a perception amongst girls that digital skills are
unattractive and boring. Research interventions have focused on building girls’ self-efficacy in digital
skills, changing curricula to provide more gender neutral topics and promoting role models. Other
research areas include the provision of digital skills to people with special educational needs, the
most effective ways of teaching programming and the impact of digital technologies on the learning
of other subjects.

Pedagogies for digital learners

We need to recognise that digital learners possess a wide range of skills and interests, which are not
dependent on their age. Whilst students might appear to be highly skilled with digital technologies
teachers should not assume digital literacy. Pedagogies to teach digital learners include
contextualising content to match students interest and getting students to develop digital outcomes
that can be freely shared, looked at, dissected and remixed by others.