Can I be both a native and an immigrant?

Part 1: Technology in My Life

Most would say I am a total digital brat. Not just a "Digital Native" but a brat. Yes I said it. I wrote the code for some of my blogs (yes I said "some"), I programmed the Google Doc that controls my schools 8th grade Homework Detention (some of the best Excel programming I've written to date I might add), when I was in middle school I took a digital animation course and rocked the Disney Animator software. I'll even admit to playing an MMORPG (Hint: Azeroth anyone?) for over a year. I'm more than just leet, I'm a technology guru on campus.

But even while I can code LaTeX (mind out of the gutter, it's a type-setting language), I don't use technology as much as I would like. By nature I'm always hyper-critical of myself and it does take quite a while to typeset math (with or without Word) but I do have a vision and plan for integrating more technology in my classroom.

When it comes to my actual life? Omg, I'm totally set.

My iPhone is my life. I have my To Do lists on there, calendar appointments (if you aren't on my calendar I'll forget to meet up with you. Seriously, make me put it in my calendar and I'm there.), my music, recipe books, language apps and the games on my iPhone saved my LIFE when I was traveling on BART from Fremont to Concord. I FB daily (bad habit I know) and check my e-mail close to once an hour (it's easy to do on my phone when I'm not at a computer).

Whenever I have a computer problem I trouble-shoot it myself and if I haven't fixed it in about an hour then I'll call for help. After a couple of "shut-up and reboots" of course :).

But my procrastination streak and closet perfectionist nature really stop me from digitizing my entire classroom. What I would give to be able to really make my lessons streamlined through and get kids to submit things so I could see them instantly. I'd love to have a kind of server in my room where all my students could write their problems on their tablet PCs (or iPads) and then I could just click on one, have it pop onto my screen then I could write a comment and go back to full screen where I see all of them again.

I'd love to give instant feedback like that! It'd be like chatting with all of them at the same time! (But not at the same time lol).

I've been a Mac and a PC and now I'm a Mac again. I don't think I'll ever really go back to being a PC. Although I have a PC desktop sitting in my room I should probably hook up.

At school I use an HP (not my choice) and we will be getting Windows 7 (and Windows 7 is not my idea lol), but it will be cool to be on the cutting edge yet again. I like learning new OS's and having the facility with all of them.

Technology is a large part of my life. I don't know what I'd do without it 0_o.

Part 2: Response to the Article

As most labels go, I always feel like I break the model. Even within reading the first page of "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" I felt out of place. Some of this has to do with how I was raised - one foot in one culture and the other foot in another. But some of it has to do with (imo) being a child of the mid-80s.

When it comes to the "Digital Natives" at my school I have to laugh. I'd say some of my students are more digitally naive than native. There are some of my students who think of themselves as technologically savvy are just learning short-cut keys and how to print documents in landscape versus portrait view. But I guess I shouldn't blame them... I blame their technology teacher lol. jk.

But really, a lot of us seasoned users do exhibit "Digital Immigrant" characteristics.

As much faith as I have in technology I still sometimes am so excited about someone seeing something that I have to show them myself (especially if it's a website where you have to log in instead of just being able to send someone the URL or tell them to Google "XYZ" phrase) or want to confirm with them that they received my message (I cannot tell you how many times someone said they text'd me something only to receive... nothing and I'd call them a liar but... I've text'd other people and they haven't gotten it either! Stupid satellites!) or wanted to make sure that person actually CHECKED their e-mail so they could get whatever thing I was sending them (oh I'm sure you know someone who you wished checked their e-mail every day but you know they don't). Footprints of a "Digital Immigrant"? I think not (at least not necessarily).

Maybe I don't want to be labeled a "Digital Immigrant" because I like to think of myself as being at the fore-front of education in the way I use technology in the classroom. Maybe?

But maybe some of what the "Digital Immigrants" believe is true though. I was raised around TV, the internet, SmartPhones (ok, so I wasn't *raised* around SmartPhones but I own one) - yet my multi-tasking abilities have their drawbacks. Whenever I am "concentrating" on lots of things, am I really paying full attention to any of them fully? I mean really, did I ever deeply understand something while I was talking on the phone (on speaker), texting and watching something else (with or without sound)? I often would read stories/articles/texts twice or even three times whenever I would pay attention to more than one thing at once. Whenever I was able to focus I could really put out some good work but I'm not really concentrating when I am multi-tasking. Are we, on one side of things, creating a population of ADD or ADHD kids when we innindate students with task overload?

I don't know. Am I a digital native or digital immigrant? A little bit of both but more on the native side than immigrant side imo. When it comes to my students? I think they wish I used my SmartBoard more often lol.