Friday, 27 March 2009

The Youngest Digital Immigrant I Know...

The youngest digital immigrant i know would be my mum, she uses the computer for work, online banking and knows a fair bit about computers and how to use them.
However my mum will still choose to use a pen and paper, over using a computer to say write a letter, she also tend to print off her emails just so she can have a copy handy. There are times
when she does need help like mastering MSN messenger!
My mum will text me but sometimes its easier just to phone her because it takes her a long time to type a text message as she doesn't do it everyday like we do!

3 comments:

  1. Ha! My mum's exactly the same with text messages, I also often get accents on the letters because she's pressed it too many times!

    It's funny that these things seem so simple to us, a text message is written and send within a minute, and I've developed a habit of typing as I think whilst using MSN, but will this mean that by the time our parents have eventually caught up and are able to send text messages quickly (and efficiently) there will be an entire new generation of new technologies they'll have to master?

    It seems like an uphill struggle to me if what you're trying to learn is always changing and is never fixed! Is it even possible to go from complete immigrant to complete native? If it is I think that's it's very difficult!

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  2. My mother is even worse, i swear I've told her at least 50 times how to turn on the computer and its only now that she actually knows how to. She is definately a "digital Immigrant"

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  3. I think Kayley's point about 'remaining native' is a good one. The binary opposition of native vs. immigrant is a seductive one until you think about it isn't it? Still I don't want to reject it completely (I think Livingston's work based on observing children is maybe better?) But I'm more interested in what the discourse of "youth vs aged ignorance" is used for in western broadband society.

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