Digital Divide

 

A Digital Divide and Developing Media Literacy 

Native [ ney-tiv ] belonging to a person by birth or to a thing by nature; inherent

Immigrant [ im-i-gruhnt ] a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.

Prensky discusses digital media and how youth have embodied a new digital language in which they are fluent. This includes an inherent understanding of computers, video games, and the internet. As "Digital Natives," youth have increased parallel processing time, with many thought processes occurring at random points, similar to having multiple tabs open, sifting through them, and finding connections in them all. This emphasizes a youth skill set for rapid information processing and multi-tasking. However, Prensky does not address how there are connotations involved in the language being used that can create an implication of these members being addressed.

Boyd questions this notion through a discussion of the implications of the terminology of digital natives and immigrants. The term native implies that digital fluency is given to children at birth. In essence, "by describing the youth as natives, both Barlow and Rushkoff frame young people as powerful actors positioned to challenge the status quo. Yet many who use the rhetoric of digital natives position young people either as passive recipients of technological knowledge or as learners who easily pick up the language of technology the way they pick up a linguistic tongue"(Boyd, 2014,178). In turn, the term immigrants carries negative connotations that dismiss the skillsets of those in the category and completely disregard the space in which Millennials and older Gen Z members have childhoods that were interrupted by the introduction of digital media and a technology boom.

Boyd then challenges this notion further through an argument that growing up with technology does not equal being able to navigate and understand the content of the media. There needs to be an emphasis on the value of critical thinking and digital literacy because while youth can develop digital schemas quickly due to exposure since birth, it cannot be assumed that they inherently understand the meaning of the digital artifacts that they encounter. The mindset of "digital natives" can cause a notion that digital literacy does not need to be taught since it is already known. This encourages a digital divide where privilege and socioeconomic factors can greatly impact how digital media is being perceived and how it is impacting our youth. All of these factors cause "educators and the public to end up reproducing digital inequality because more privileged youth often have more opportunities to develop these skills outside the classroom (Boyd, 2014, 190-180).

The privileged youth in the discussion have increased variables impacting their exposure to media and its impact. It is important to address that it is no longer a discussion of just access to the actual digital products but how can we give access to digital literacy to everyone? Especially those who spend more time on media than others. To address this further, "scholars and governmental agencies began to argue that access alone mattered little if people didn’t know how to use the tools in front of them. As more youth gained access through schools and public institutions, and as a result of the decline in costs of technology, scholars increasingly raised concern about the unevenness of skills, literacy, and 'socially meaningful' access" (Boyd, 2014, 198). Pew Research Center has collected data that shows 56% of Black teens and a close tie of 55% of Hispanic teens are online almost constantly on either a computer or a cellphone. This opens a conversation not about accessibility but about what role intersectionality plays in the realm of digital media and how that impacts the learning of our children of color. 

Using media is now a daily routine of our kids, and instead of trying to analyze all the ways we can stop internet use, we must embrace the notion that this is a space that exists and greatly impacts our everyday lives. To put this into perspective, the Pew Research Center addresses how Black and Hispanic teens have higher percentages of understanding the power the media can have in highlighting important issues and holding others accountable. Especially with the consideration that we as humans are developing spaces in the media where we can build communities, discover interests, become informed about political activities, and hear the voices of underrepresented voices. Instead of working to remove this continuously growing community in the digital world, we need to give our kids the tools to navigate the divide in the digital world and equip our youth with the cognitive critical thinking of analyzing information and deciphering truth from fiction. 

With his foundational work, Prensky has allowed for a greater conversation to be had about how we can move forward on the digital spectrum so we can all become digital citizens who can navigate the spaces forming in the virtual realities in our pockets and backpacks. Also, there needs to be a conversation about how we can empower our Black and Hispanic teens who have a strong digital presence to become responsible critical thinkers of the media they are exposed to and how this can impact the learning in the classroom. 

Boyd, Danah, (2014).  It’s Complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.