Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants?

Posted on March 11, 2008 by Jennifer Brady

Kathy Fredrickson is a small business marketing consultant who also serves as director of development and marketing for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh College of Business. She shares her insights as a guest MarketSmart columnist for the Appleton Post Crescent which is where this latest piece was found. The other day, according to her story, a classroom full of business students tuned out of her lecture entitled ‘A Brand Called You.’ Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the response she was feeling from the audience, Ms. Fredrickson resorted to an unusual tactic:

Halfway through, I took one last shot at saving the presentation before yelling “man overboard!” I used a trump card in a marketer’s playbook — authentic delivery. I stopped and asked the students if they found the information beneficial. I told them I was frustrated with their behavior and if we did not start having an engaged discussion, I would end it. The tactic salvaged the presentation.

How and why did this work? The explanation she provides is primarily based on the writings of Marc Prensky, a speaker, writer, consultant, and designer in the critical areas of education and learning. In short, it has to do with the difference between digital natives (young people who have grown up with the Internet and speak the language) and digital immigrants who have had to learn a second language. Says Ms. Fredrickson now, after her recent lecture experience and following her review of how more and more people learn today: The next time I was going share information with students in a classroom setting, it was going to have to be me who changed, not them.

[You can read the work referenced by Ms. Fredrickson here: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.]