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A digital native is referred to as a individual who has grown up exposed from birth or a very young age to the Internet, compared to a digital immigrant who grew up without the Internet acquiring its knowledge at a later date.  And according to author Marc Prensky, these young digital native children have grown up before they leave home with over 10,000 video-game hours; 200,000 emails and instant messages; over 10,000 digital cell phone hours; and over 20,000 television hours watched with over 500,000 commercials seen. All of this has caused a development into their brain which has allowed them to learn the Internet language easily, make quicker snap decision, and learn/integrate easier. Yet they all have been taught or exposed to native immigrant parents and teachers, which he feels is a major part of the educational problems we are seeing.

As parents and grandparents, we have a choice in the world of today's children. We can unsuccessfully force them to learn our old ways, or we can learn theirs.  Many young children are "bored" in school and find their lessons not very stimulating. At home they play video games and watch MTV, developing a brain which is used to networking. Altogether, a slow step-by-step logical system or boring lectures drive them crazy. Appearing as if they were slow or not paying attention, the alternative thinking is that they have chosen not to participate.  My little granddaughter of eight tells me school is boring, feeling as if she has done it before. Surveys say these kids feel as if they were "powering down" from real life to enter classrooms.

On the other hand, we have teachers and parents who are considered to be digital immigrants---individuals who have grown up in traditional homes with the Internet not entering their lives until later on. They are not as quick as the natives in receiving information, which is why they attempt to teach logical steps in the teaching processes to kids who are used to receiving it lightening fast, and who prefer multi-tasking and parallel processes. Whereas school teaches text first and then graphics, the digital natives prefer the opposite, working best when they can network. What is being taught at schools today is not fun but too serious, taught to children who are used to the Internet and instant gratification and a reward system.

All of this brings to mind that our children and their brains have changed drastically, a new generation which has grown up with Internet technology as their number one teacher. Because of this, our school systems fail to recognize that their teaching methods need to change, as these digital natives are thinking and processing information much different than the student before them. What worked previously is obviously not working now, so we have a generation of bored students born after 1980 who are fighting against the old system with parents and teachers who are not as technical savvy.  Different in themselves, these digital natives interact with each other in their own way of thinking, studying, writing and working that is more different than any other generation---a life online that involves multi-step processing which involves Internet "grazing, deep diving, and a feedback loop" which can be accessed from anywhere.