Assignment 1

Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives, Digital Wisdom Blog

This article was very interesting. Rather than discussing the difference between digital immigrants and digital natives, but rather focuses on digital wisdom. The author makes a good point at the very beginning of the article. He points out that given that many people growing up in the 21st century will be digital natives, a new distinction is needed, that of digital wisdom. Digital wisdom is identified as a twofold concept. This concept is first the use of technology, and then the access of information through technology. The author asserts that the wise digitally unenhanced individual will have less access to tools of wisdom than the digitally enhanced population. The article then goes on to discuss the use of technology in accessing wisdom and how digital use enhances how we interact with the world. For example digital devices help up plan, remember, and organize our lives every day. This is a very interesting concept and ties in with many educational theories. For example Lev Vygotsky’s theory on the zone of proximal development correlates to the use of digital information. The theory essentially states that an individual can only learn so much by themselves. It takes a peer or other social interaction to push that individuals learning to the next stage. Digital wisdom specifically addresses this. Through digital devices we are connected to the world to share ideas and increase learning, or we can access new information to take our own learning to the next level.

Jonathan Spreng