Week+1

This was the introductory class for this course.

I had an interesting discussion with my husband about digital natives and digital immigrants. He sees himself as neither. He is an electrical engineer, and has been one for over twenty years. Before that, as a student, he worked for Bell Canada. He feels that he has lived through the revolution. He feels that an immigrant has come to 'somewhere' but he has been here all along and the world has transformed around him. I was a spectator and a minor participant during the process but he feels that he was involved and used the technology as it was evolving.

My two children (daugher in Grade 10 and son in Grade 7) are certainly digital natives. They use technology with relative ease and are willing to use new technology. They have the confidence to tackle the problems along the way. As with many youth, the impact of the technology on them and their futures is not something that they spend time considering. The idea that what they post on Facebook or send in an e-mail today might bring consequences later is foreign to them. I have worked to increase their awareness and we discuss copyright, validity and impact at the dinner table fairly regularly. I am my daughter's friend of Facebook so that I can be more aware of how she and her friends are thinking and conducting themselves. My son is not on Facebook - yet :-) but he has an e-mail account and can chat on-line (though I am not 100% sure by which technology).