You
don't have to be a native to ...
Recently I've have the opportunity to witness a couple of classes of pupils who
have quickly and readily caught on to why del.icio.us
can be a useful tool, both in their studies and for their personal needs. I've
also witnessed teachers who haven't caught on at the same speed, if at all. Then
again, I've also encountered teachers who not only caught on, but who were able
to explain the use of this tool to their pupils - pupils who may not have done
so on their own. I've watched pupils (and older students) switching back and forth
between windows in order to copy the text of a Wikipedia entry to the report they're
preparing in Word. It might make sense that as natives they'd have long ago internalized
the basic function of copy/paste, but experience shows that for some reason, many
still haven't. Frankly, I have no explanation for the depressing fact that so
many digital natives relate to a word processor as little more than a souped-up
typewriter. Many of these natives have never even seen a typewriter, but
rather than using this incredible tool to even half of its potential, all too
often they do little more than type text on the screen, format it a bit, and send
it to the printer.
Yes, there seems to be a digital divide at work here, but rather than being a
digital divide between natives and immigrants, it seems simply to be the divide
between those who are open to these tools and
those who aren't. Sometimes there are more pupils on the open side, but not because
of their being natives.
Go to: Carrying cognitive baggage from the
old country