It was 2001 when Marc Prensky wrote an article in On the Horizon magazine explaining how student attitudes and habits had changed over the past decade as a result of the widespread introduction of new technologies. He coined the term! “digital natives!” to distinguish those born at the height of the introduction of these technologies from those who had to adopt them as adults! “digital immigrants.”
Being born surrounded by technology does not mean knowing how to use it.
The term “digital native” quickly became widely accepted! meaning that buy phone number list simply by being born surrounded by technology! one learned to use it. Naturally and innately. And in the most appropriate way.
Big mistake.
As I explained in 2016 in my post Digital natives are not born! they are made ! the government is the “visible hand” being born surrounded by technology! learning intuitively how to press a button! click or slide your finger on a screen does not imply knowing the consequences! nor knowing how to process the information! nor being prepared for the risks! nor discovering how to take advantage of all the potential and opportunities it offers.
Just as holding a book in your hands is useless if you haven’t been Social networks taught to read! deciphering the words of a text is useless if you don’t understand or know how to interpret them. And when it comes to reading and assimilating! Miguel de clean email Cervantes’s Don Quixote has nothing to do with Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf .
And yet! children and adolescents access all kinds of digital content! connect to the internet! use mobile devices! download and view apps! open social media profiles! play online and online games! chat! share images and videos! publish their own content… and all of this at increasingly younger ages.
Connected to the internet and mobile
In Spain! the average age at which children begin using the internet regularly is seven. By age ten! one in four children has a mobile phone! according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (which does not provide information for younger ages). From that age on! the growth is exponential: the percentage rises to almost 40% by the age of 11! and by the age of 13! 84% have acquired a mobile phone.