Keynote: 5 year olds never could programme the video - Challenging the myth of the digital native
Speaker: Angela McFarlane, Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol
The appropriation of digital technologies is sometimes seen as the preserve of the young. Possibly even less helpfully, much rhetoric proposes that all young people not only use digital technologies but do some with relish and a high degree of proficiency. Implications for education are said to be profound. There is little doubt that these technologies are indeed changing the ways we access, use and share information and how we communicate and build relationships. The extent to which all young people do any of this well is a more contested area. This talk will share findings from a number of research projects that suggest effective use of technologies are far from spontaneous and that assumptions of digital naturalisation risk the alienation of many young people.
6 comments February 1st, 2009
