The Concept of Digital Natives - Essay Example

The Concept of Digital Natives Introduction The emergence of the Y generation or the millennials ushered ina new techno savvy generation that has been labelled the digital natives. This is a generation that was born post 1980s at a time when computer affiliated technological advancement and developments. Today, the undergraduate students in universities and the first graduates who are in the market are considered to belong to the digital native generation. The term ‘digital native’ was developed by Marc Prensky in his work published in 2001 when he compared the current generation and the generations born before the 80s, otherwise known as the digital immigrants. Though controversial, the digital native concept has created heated debate in different sectors of the economy and the social life of this generation. Though some sociological scientists have questioned the hype over the digital natives, the characteristics of this generation has stood out and clearly demonstrated its presence. In this paper, the concept of digital native will be discussed, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of this generation in line with their behaviour (Kuehn, 2012). The concept of digital natives According to Prensky (2001), the current debate on the decline in educational standards in the United States has failed to recognize their radical changes which have happened and were not factored in the original educational discourse in the country. The radical changes have not just occurred in their dressing styles or in their body adornments but a radical social shift from their mannerism and nature of information accessed by the generation. As compared to the previous generation labelled as the digital immigrants, the digital natives have a number of behaviours and abilities that have separated them from other generations. The digital natives were born after 1980s, a time when the first Macintosh computer and other computer controlled gadgets were controlled. The years that followed this period were characterized by a number of innovations and discoveries in the technology world including the invention of the mobile phone among other devices. As a result, they either grew up using these devices or actively reading about them, a fact that informed their ability to easily integrate them into their lives. As compared to the previous generations, the digital natives have distinct abilities to use computer applications with ease, a fact that has enabled them to enter the job market and create a massive upset (Kuehn, 2012). As compared to the digital immigrants, the digital natives have a strong and extensive contact with technology including the use of the internet and other IT applications as they have interacted with such since birth. As compared to the use of faxes, memos and mouth to mouth communication approach, the digital natives have a number of platforms and approaches for communication which they have used for a long period of time. Mobile phones have become a dominant feature in the life of the digital natives, a device they use for voice call communications, sending short messages and interaction within the social media. Apart from the mobile phones, internet connectivity within computers and the tablets have enabled the digital natives to communicate through emails and other electronically based communication approaches. Intense contact with technology has created behavioural changes among the digital natives and this has been described by sociologists as the digital divide. According to Tapscott (2008), the misunderstanding within the workplace pitying the digital natives and the digital immigrants has resulted from the behavioural changes that technology has created on the life of the natives. The discord and misunderstanding is common within the workplace where the baby boomers and the generation X argue that the over reliance of the digital generation on technology has made them lazy and difficult to work with (Myers & Sundaram, 2012). Despite the antagonistic view that this view has been subjected to, the digital natives have a number of positive attributes that can be engaged at the workplace to enhance performance and productivity. The digital natives have a fast absorption of information and this is essential in handling the massive data that is used by organizations today. Due to the mastery of technology and information, the digital natives have the ability to multitask and carryout a lot of responsibilities at the same time. Despite the collision with other generations, organizational leaders have started to appreciate the roles of the natives in assisting their organizations to handle the massive data and information (Brown, 2010). Due to the nature of technology and the features currently available, digital natives interact with their peers and colleagues and this has enhanced their interaction skills. Networking provides a room for organizations to reach out to new clients and employees and this is essential in the interconnected business world today. As a result, the digital natives have enhanced business networking through the use of the social media and technology and this has provided organizations with a chance to enter new markets and attract new customers. Teamwork and corporation is also a common trait among the digital natives and this is attributed to their continued interactions online. As students, the digital natives discuss their academic assignments and responsibilities online through social media interaction groups and other online platforms like Google hand out (Myers & Sundaram, 2012). The same trait is essential for the growth of businesses today as teamwork eases responsibilities and creates room for brainstorming and the creation of solutions and strategies. The digital natives also possess greater self-confidence, higher intelligence and dependency, a feature that has enabled them to be more creative and innovative. Today, the digital entrepreneur including the founder of Facebook and other online sites benefited from their inbuilt abilities as digital natives and individuals whose innovativeness stemmed from their earlier interaction with technology. Organizations today are driven by the need to beat competition and emerge as the market force in a world that has different parameters for defining organizational success. As a result, the digital natives have found a place where their innovativeness and ability to develop new ideas supported with their technological knowledge can be embraced (Tapscott, 2008). However, the discord with other generations who have viewed social life, entertainment and work engagement through a different lens stem from their negative attributes. As youths who have interacted with technological applications since birth, the digital natives have developed a number of traits that have affected their abilities to integrate well into the dynamic yet conservative society. For example, they have been accused of suffering from a number of disorders which have affected their ability to work in tandem with others and assist in achieving the goals of organizations or even their life goals. According to Oblinger and Oblinger 2006, the digital natives have been associated with superficial interests, attention and speech disorders which have affected their abilities to meet the needs of work, life and interaction with other members of the society. Over reliance on technology and social interaction sites has also resulted to the development of personality disorders and irrational aggressive behaviours among the digital natives (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2006). Strengths and weaknesses of the digital natives As discussed in the previous sections, the digital natives have both strengths and weaknesses just like the digital natives and the other generations who lacked access to technological devices. The development of 3-D and interactive online video games has enhanced the skills and abilities of the digital natives to collaborate and work together in pursuit of solutions to problems. Collaboration is essential to all organizations and even societies today and this grants the digital natives a significant place in the society today (Levin & Arafeh, 2002). According to Prensky (2001), digital natives begin interacting with their environment from a younger game not through physical approaches but through an online platform. Through such games, the younger digital natives are taught to embrace success and failure and effectively handle frustrations which are common in normal life situations. While the digital immigrants have traditionally relied on the use of printed manuals for their job instructions, the digital natives have no place for the tedious paper based manuals (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2006). Agilent technologies have embraced this desire and feature of this generation and have thus opted to the distribution of Apple iPod Nanos to the employees with the manuals and job instruction. This has transformed the workplace and added a new impetus and motivation to the employees who have worked towards integrating technology with their work descriptions. Today, the company performs well according to Forbes rating and this has been associated with their approach towards embracing the technological desires of the digital generation and the fresh graduates from the universities (Tapscott, 2008). Natives also have the ability to create interactive and essential tools such as the blogs, the RSS feeds and the application of the interactive web 2.0 social networking tools which not only enhances the performance of the organization but also improves the overall motivation of the workers (Levin & Arafeh, 2002). The adoption of the virtual environments and tools has enhanced the performance of different organizations and this has been attributed to the creativity of the digital natives who have the skills and desire to work with them. Marketing departments rely on instant feedback from customers and this informs their decisions and product designing, a role that has been enhanced by the technological skills and abilities of the digital natives. Through their access and understanding of social media tools, the digital natives have created different online platforms for organizations from where the views and complaints from the clients are handled real time. As a result, the process of product designing and marketing has been well informed and based on the desires of the consumers, a process that has enhanced both market performance and overall sales for such organizations (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008). To benefit from the abilities and skills of the digital natives and to eliminate collision and discord with other generations, organizations should learn to allow them find their own ways. By simply specifying the objectives of the organization and the limits for each and every employee to guide them, the digital natives can easily coexist with other generations and achieve the goals of the organization (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2006). By creating a free room for the generation and stipulating the laws to guide their actions, all areas of possible collision will be sealed and the goals of the organization will remain the motivating factor for all groups. This has been tried successfully in different organizations such as Agilent technologies that have formed a culture of recruiting fresh graduates from colleges and universities (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008). However, the weaknesses of this generation have been attributed to the reluctance of different organizations to engage them in employment and work. For example, recent research has indicated that the digital natives do not understand the language of company loyalty and are expected to move to over seven different companies before eventually retiring. Due to their desire to explore and identify their skills, it is difficult to confine the digital natives to one organization for a long period of time. As they continue to search for job fulfilment and satisfaction, human resource managers have been forced to develop new strategies of meeting their needs and countering their high turnover rate (Tapscott, 2008). The digital natives are also driven by the desire to produce results and these results into the use of procedural approaches which are not accepted by most organization. This has been created by the perception among the group that the internet has answers for all challenges and this eliminates the need for using the long and tiresome traditional approaches. For example, the digital natives are willing to spend long hours online downloading applications for games and videos but cannot use the same amount of time to deliver the results desired at the workplace. Due to their patience, most organizations have shied from engaging them out of fear that their results, though right, may be adopted through non procedural approaches (Levin & Arafeh, 2002). Though this generation has been lauded for their ability to multitask and accomplish multiple tasks within a short period of time, the disadvantages of the same have been equally ignored. This affects the quality of products or services and thus the ability of an organization to retain its clients and maintain sales and profitability. The success of all generations, irrespective of their understanding of technological applications depends on their ability to commit and obey the protocol set forward. This is a feature that lacks within this generation and has placed them on a collision course with the digital immigrants who are the majority managers and organizational leaders (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008). Conclusion The concept of digital natives as developed by Prensky has captured the techno savvy generation that were born after the 1980s and have mastered the use of different technological applications. Today, the first digital native graduates have entered the job market and this has increased the focus on this concept as managers and leaders are faced with the challenge of handling one of the most dynamic and informed generations. The digital natives have high access to information through their mastery of the internet and this makes them resourceful to organizations and learning institutions. However, their over reliance on technology and preference for short cuts has affected their ability to integrate with a market that has a dominant digital immigrant population. 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Tapscott, D 2008, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Read More