core 4

Garrett Johnson
ENC 1102
Section 112
Ms. Moody
Core IV
Research Question
If you are exposed to technology at a young age, are you more digitally literate than children who are not exposed to technology until their education calls for digital literacy?

Introduction
The world currently revolves around technology and the ability for people to be technologically literate. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that everyone has the same level of literacy. I want to find whether or not age is a factor in digital proficiency. To find if children who are introduced to digital and technological devices at a younger age are more successful at becoming totally digitally literate as technology progresses throughout the future, I looked for scholarly sources that described digital literacy, its importance, and its changes across and in generations. I found that digital literacy is concluded among many sources to be one of the most important factors of overall success for upcoming generations in today’s society. I want to look further into sources like "Digital Literacy in the Google Generation” to discover the importance of digital literacy beyond search engines and into evaluation of sources. I feel this is just as important as basic understanding of technology. Mark Prensky’s article, as well as the article from Educause are also interesting because they focus on the generational aspect of my topic. I am still struggling to find solid information concerning disparities within generations, although it is apparent in my findings that digital literacy is, in fact, like learning a second language.

Methods of Research:
Defining Digital Literacy
In my opinion, one of the best resources to determine literacy is to consult a library. To define digital literacy, I looked to a scholarly library because of their ethos. At the university, librarians even work to incorporate digital media into the library as a resource for students to gain digital literacy. I used this website because it contributes to my knowledge and opinion of the topic, and I think it is important to first understand the definition of digital literacy from outside sources before making conclusions of my own.

Personal observations
To define digital literacy and determine whether or not the age you are when exposed to technology hinders your attempt at becoming digitally literate, I considered my personal situation. The discrepancy lies in upbringings: I was never taught how to use a computer until I was much older and the use of technology was necessary to complete school assignments. In comparison, I have seen that if a child is raised learning how to work a computer’s simple functions, or even an electronic toy that is made to resemble a computer, then that child will most likely not only have a grasp of the concept of working a digital device, but will be able to use it to their benefit throughout their education. My observations are weak and this is obviously not the best form of research because it is purely based on my opinion. However, it is also scientifically proven that during the early stages of our childhood, our brain can learn new things and concepts, such as new languages, and become digitally literate exceptionally fast. In their article entitled,”Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century,” Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L. Flannigan wrote: “Digital and visual literacies are the next wave of communication specialization. Most people will have technologies at their fingertips not only to communicate but to create, to manipulate, to design, to self-actualize. Children learn these skills as part of their lives, like language, which they learn without realizing they are learning it.” Therefore, if children are not exposed to digital media until later in life, they will find it as difficult to learn as a new language, which proves my observations as true.

Blog
A video blog I found is a solid outside source which I thought was good for showing the importance of digital literacy in younger generations, as well as helping prove my assumptions that some students have the capability to use technology more effectively than others. This blog, which updates the book “Information Literacy Meets Library 2.0,” was published in March of 2008, and contains a video that shows how current generations have pretty much all information on the tips of their finger by having the ability to use the Google search engine. In past generations students would have to go to the library to research or ask an expert on the subject. However, they outline the fact that students often have the skills to obtain sources, but lack the digital literacy to use their findings effectively. The video explains, “A study conducted by the British Library at JISC illustrates that young people in the so called “Google generation” rely on search engines as their sources of information, but lack the skills to evaluate information.” The video goes on to show the importance of digital literacy and gives a diagram of the six steps to being digitally literate: task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation. This source lacks credibility in the area of expertise. I was unable to find the authors of the blog. Although their information seems credible, this source may lack expertise.

Articles
The article in Educause, by Diana Oblinger of Educause and James Oblinger
 of North Carolina State University, is possibly one of the best sources for my paper. It thoroughly explains digital literacy across generations with diagrams and various resources. Some of the information I found most interesting was their explanation of younger generation’s digital literacy:

“Exposure to IT begins at very young ages. Children age six or younger spend an average of two hours each day using screen media (TV, videos, computers, video games), which nearly equals the amount of time they spend playing outside (1:58 hours versus 2:01 hours). Both significantly exceed the amount of reading time (39 minutes). Half of the children in this age group have used a computer; among 4-to-6-year-olds, 27 percent spend over an hour a day (1:04) at the keyboard. It's not just teenagers who are wired up and tuned in, it's babies in diapers as well. While earlier generations were introduced to information through print, this generation takes a digital path.”

The Oblingers then discuss personality traits associated with digital literacy, as well as the fact that “age is less important than exposure to technology.” This contributes to my research greatly because it focuses on the fact that not everyone has the same digital literacy rates across or within a generation, and it matters more whether or not people are exposed to technology rather than simply how old they are. I believe this source is credible because it was found in an educational article written by experts. Limitations are scarce, besides the background of the authors. Their views on digital literacy may be altered by their age and generational traits, or by their careers as teachers.

A similarly credible article I researched was by Marc Prensky. He is an internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, consultant, and designer in the critical areas of education and learning. His findings for digital literacy compare “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” as people who grow up digitally literate in comparison to those who try to learn later in life. He discusses how the differences between Digital Native students and Digital Immigrant teachers “lies at the root of a great many of today’s educational problems.” He suggested, “Digital Natives’ brains are likely physically different as a result of the digital input they received growing up.” And he submitted, “learning via digital games is one good way to reach Digital Natives in their ‘native language.’” This information is good support for my research findings because it further shows the importance of digital literacy, how it is engrained in our society, and the fact that children who grow up digitally literate learn it like a foreign language and are better with technology than those who learn later in life. I believe this method is also one of my stronger research methods because it is important to consult experts on a subject before drawing personal conclusions.

Results and Discussion
I found the answer to my research questions lies in the key comparison between digital literacy and language. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign explains the definition of digital literacy as “the ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and create information, the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers, and a person’s ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment.” Digital language is simply one aspect of digital literacy, digital literacy encompasses all aspects put together. I believe Diana Oblinger of Educause and James Oblinger
 of North Carolina State University, as well as Marc Prensky, best outline the answer to my research question. Just like it’s harder for older generations to understand technology than younger generations who are supposedly surrounded by it in society, it is similarly more difficult for children of the same generation to be equally literate if they’re introduced to technology at different ages. Obviously, digital literacy comes more easily to those who are introduced to technology at a young age in comparison to those who learn to use technology once it’s required of them.
I believe further studies on this topic should be done to specify the exact ages at which introduction to technology is vital for children to become fluent by the time technology skills are required of them. In today’s society, digital literacy is vital for social and learning success. It is engrained throughout our lives in everything from checking email to analyzing digital sources. Therefore, the “take home” point of my findings is that it is important for all children to be equally exposed to digital media in order for them to function with the same digital literacy because of the importance of it in our lives.