How+are+DN's+different?

=How are Digital Natives (DN's) different?=

In order to effectively answer this question we must first determine who are considered Digital Natives and who we are comparing them to.

While the age of [|information technology] began in the 1970's (and therefore people born after this date could be considered DN's). [|Prensky] generally defines the Digital Natives as the generation that has grown up with the advanced technologies of the 21st century.



Millenials (or Generation Z as they are sometimes referred to as) are babies of the late 1990's and early 2000's, these are the children who best embody the term Digital Native. The above chart illustrates that only a minority 14% of our population is an 'official' Digital Native, but with more being born everyday and old people dying off, the proportion of our population who is digitally "native" continues to grow.

Digital Natives are different to all generations before them as they have been immersed in a digital world since the moment they were born. Due to todays technological advancements, we are connected to everyone and everything almost everywhere we go:



Digital Natives use technology in almost all aspects of their day whether its waking up to their ipod, texted their friend over breakfast, or surfing the internet on the way to school. Due to ever-present aspect of technology Digital Natives live much different lives than children even 10-15 years ago.

Imagine how an average day for you went as a child, chances are it's much different than this:

A Day in the Life of a Digital Native

Wow! Different huh? Come on, lets find out why this information is important for teachers!