DIGITAL AGE: QUESTIONS AND ISSUES

DIGITAL AGE: QUESTIONS AND ISSUES

Are all youth digital natives? Simply put, no. Though we frame digital natives as a generation “born digital,” not all youth are digital natives. Digital natives share a common global culture that is defined not by age, strictly, but by certain attributes and experiences related to how they interact with information technologies, information itself, one another, and other people and institutions. Those who were not "born digital" can be just as connected, if not more so, than their younger counterparts. And not everyone born since, say, 1982, happens to be a digital native.

Digital Identity and social life : Amidst a digital landscape that offers up a constant explosion of information – and influence - natives assert their personal thoughts and experiences, as well as their own political beliefs. digital natives carry this theme of personalization into their wider lives – by creating and ‘showing their own’ in order to – among many other reasons – assert themselves amongst a sea of information and influence. How do on-line social activities affect off-line identity development?

Digital Safety : There is a history of panic surrounding the introduction of new media forms into society; however, often “new” dangers are “real world” threats now encountered through different mediums. What are thse new dangers, and how can they affect people?

Digital Privacy :Most digital natives (DNs) live online, 24/7, where everything done is recorded for posterity. Some DNs call it expression. Some digital immigrants feel it’s shifting our notions of privacy. Do you share that view?

Digital Creativity : Just as an artist may create a sculpture from materials found in the wild, digital natives view the media landscape as their “natural habitat” from which they can pull resources for creativity, expression, and commerce. Is that as valuable as pre-digital creativity? More? Less?

Digital Piracy :Most adults in today’s society recognize the consequences of theft. To them, illegally downloading a song or ripping a DVD carries the same weight as walking out of the grocery store with an unpaid gallon of milk. Digital Natives, on the other hand, are growing up in a post-Napster world where most of their peers condone casual piracy. Do you agree?

Digital Information Overload Information overload refers to the increasingly frequent state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic. This problem can lead to low productivity, frustration, stress, and poor decision making. Have you ever been in that situation?

Digital Information Quality : As opposed to reading books and magazines, digital natives largely draw information from the internet. Since everybody with a computer and internet access can be a publisher on the internet, such information can be incorrect, outdated, or inconsistent. How can that problem be solved?

Digital Education : Technology has always been an important factor for education, but the rapid development of Internet and digital technology over the past decade is changing more than just the equipment used in the classroom: learning styles and school behavior are constantly being shaped by the growing presence of the Internet. How strong is the need for digital literacy among teachers?


Extracts and ideas from http://www.digitalnative.org/Main_Page

NOTE: Napster was a file sharing service that paved the way for decentralized peer-to-peer file-sharing programs such as Kazaa and others which are now used for many of the same reasons and can download music, pictures, and other files. The popularity and repercussions of the first Napster have made it a legendary icon in the computer and entertainment fields.