Exploring Digital Natives' Academic Use of Technology Through the Lens of Culture

• In Event: Media, Culture, and Learning SIG Top Paper Session

Abstract

Much has been written about the new generation of students entering higher education. Prensky (2001a; 2001b) characterized these new students as digital natives who learn and use technology differently and more proficiently than their predecessors, the digital immigrants. Subsequent research has challenged these distinctions (Hargittai, 2010) suggesting instead that factors other than “generation” determine technology use and proficiency. A recent EDUCAUSE study (Dahlstrom, Brooks, Grayek & Reeves, 2015) found that while technology is embedded into undergraduate students’ lives, their academic use of technology is widespread but not deep. This exploratory research seeks to build on the existing research on digital natives’ use of technology by examining the relationship of culture to students’ technology use and skills.

Authors

• Angela D. Benson, The University of Alabama

• Jamie D. Mills, The University of Alabama