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Digital Natives? Naive! - ProfHacker.com

“The idea makes sense, of course, given that we recognize the massive cultural and cognitive shift that took place with the advent of widespread alphabetic literacy (which–let’s be honest–didn’t happen that long ago in human history: maybe a few hundred years). However, the available empirical evidence just doesn’t support the notion of a generation of digital natives who all share levels of expertise and proficiency that other generations lack. See, for instance, the following article from last month’s Sociological Inquiry by Eszter Hargittai: ‘Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the ‘Net Generation’.’ Hargittai concludes that ‘even when controlling for basic Internet access, among a group of young adults, socioeconomic status is an important predictor of how people are incorporating the Web into their everyday lives with those from more privileged backgrounds using it in more informed ways for a larger number of activities.’”