Sunday, October 12, 2008

Who am I?

Just last week I turned 25; I am now a quarter of a century. Now I know I'm not old, in fact I'm one of the youngest members of the Herrick's TEAM. But this birthday (compounded with my mounds of grad work) have left me wondering, "Who Am I?", in a digital sense?

I was one of the first people I knew to have a computer. Does that make me a digital native?

As a kid, I found it easier to complete my assignments on the computer than by hand. Does that make me a digital native?

As an adult, I spend a majority of my day on the computer. Does that make me a digital native?

Who am I?

Or am I a digital immigrant? According to Will Richardson's definition in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools For the Classroom, a Digital Immigrant is somone who was not surrounded by technology growing up. So I guess I'm not a digital immigrant. But there are times that I don't really feel like a digital native either...I find it very difficult to be away from technology. Does that make me a digital native...or just an addict?