Nature’s editorial of 25 July 2017 reviews an article Paul A. Kirschner (Distinguished University Professor on the Open Universiteit) and Pedro de Bruyckere (Artevelde University College and recent PhD at the Open Universiteit) published in Teaching and Teacher Education. The assumption that the younger generation consists of digital natives is the basis of many policy decisions, as for example a recent report from the insurance industry shows. Kirschner and De Bruyckere however state that the digital native is a myth: a yeti with a smartphone. The implications of this go beyond insurance, warns the editorial of this renowned scientific journal.
Kirschner and De Bruyckere state in their article that it is beyond dispute that the younger generation in developed countries has been exposed to a lot of digital technology. But the assumption that therefore youngsters are digital natives and are radically different from earlier generations seems illusory. A large part of this digital-savvy generation use technology the same way as their elders do. Still redesign of education and policy changes are based on this assumption.
Read the review in Nature.
Read Kirschner's and De Bruyckere's article in Teaching and Teacher Education.
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