Reverb Consulting

This question arises from Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky.  For me, the application of ‘native or immigrant’ to today’s digital world is very meaningful.  I get what ‘native or immigrant’ means when used in the traditional sense.  Applying the body of understanding to our digital world brings much insight.  Born in 1962, clearly I am a digital immigrant.  Consider the following issues with immigrants that we baby boomers saw portrayed so often in our literature, cinema and television:

The immigrant that refused to learn the culture and language of the new country, while their children embraced them both.

The fear of the new and different that the immigrant had.

The immigrant’s accent.

The time required to learn the new language.

The opportunities of the new world.

The immigrants that offered so much to the new world and bettered it in so many ways.  Immigrants created the new world.

The different ways in which immigrants of the past dealt with and met or didn’t meet the challenges of the new world.

Indeed this new digital world is different from where we came.  The question ‘native or immigrant’ invites many other questions.  Those questions offer an opportunity to reflect on what type of immigrant you currently are and what kind of an immigrant you want to be, and how you intend to get there.

I assume that many will answer this question by stating that they don’t want to be an immigrant at all.  That may be, but it is not the reality.  Like it or not we are living in a new digital world. Take that thought to the next level.  If we are living in a new world but not by our choice, then we may consider one’s self a slave, a ‘digital slave.’  That may indeed be the way that you feel with regards to this new digital age.  If you do, then just realizing that offers a critical opportunity for reflection on one’s place in this new world.

I propose that if one stays a slave, it is because of one’s own choosing.  The digital tools that create this new digital world are for us to use.  It does not have to work the other way: the tools using us.  Are you using these tools or are they using you?  The choice is yours to make.  And, both the choice to be in denial and the choice to do nothing are active choices.