To be or not to be a Digital Native

   The term Digital Native has begun to be thrown around a lot recently, from as small as in blogs to as large as national media attention.  All of these sources have varying ideas and beliefs about digital natives and how to teach them however I think we are all missing the most important question:

 WHAT ARE THEY?!

  The best definition I can find is that a digital native is someone who has literally been immersed in technology since the day they are born.  Even this definition is fuzzy.  For example, does this mean that digital natives can grow old? Or is the term specific to only young people?  Does immersed mean have access to and use on a daily basis or does it mean that it existed the same time as the "native"?  All of these questions and confusions surrounding the term "Digital Natives" has caused me to shy away from the term.
   The term was Digital Natives was first coined by Marc Prensky in the 1990's.  He described the term as almost exclusively the young who spend hours with technology on any given day.  He began to make huge jumps, saying that due to the massive amounts of technology, these digital natives' brains are actually beginning to be wired differently to those who did not grow up with technology, digital immigrants.  He then proceeded to say that while digital immigrants can become successful in using various forms of technology, their skill will never be able to match that of a digital native.
   After reading some  Presky articles and doing a little outside research of my own, I came to the conclusion that I don't believe in using the term "Digital Natives".  There are several dangers, if you will, surrounding what the term, digital natives, stands for.  For example, just the stereotype that revolves around the word, even for those who don't know what it means exactly, is dangerous.  In the classroom, if a teacher accepts this term, he/she may have a pre-notion that all the students coming in his/her classroom are proficient in technology (after all they are a digital Native).  This is absolutely crazy to me.  There is no way that a person can believe that every child they meet is going to be proficient in technology.  There are so many other factors that play into that; access to technology, the wealth and social status that surrounds technology, the interest in technology, etc. AND, if you want to take it a step further, what does "proficient in technology" mean? Many students may think that their ability to find the "next best game" or message their friends means that they are "proficient".  Proficient by the students' definition means nothing in the classroom.
   Today in class we held a debate about agreeing or disagreeing with the term Digital Natives (can you tell which side I was on).  However, I didn't start out to be so against the term.  I, at first, was sucked into what the term sounds like. well I have grown up with more technology than other generations, and for the most part I guess my generation knows more about technology, so I must be a native of the digital world. However, through reading critically of several articles and researching what others have thought about the term, my ideas quickly shifted.

   This comment made on yet another website arguing the term of digital native made the most sense to me.  The term Digital Native implies that only the young can be actual natives.  However, this guy, and myself, think that it is all in what one (any one, old, young, fat, purple) is used to.  The metaphor the guy is using in this comment is basically saying that teachers are automatized to the classroom environment, that's how they gained their "eyes" in the back of their head.  Students, for the most part, have become automized to technology, for some it's almost second nature.  A new teacher, who may not have those "eyes" will have to practice to automize his/her teaching and gain those "eyes".  If a teacher, or anyone for that matter, wants to connect with some of the students' automization to technology all he or she has to do is practice and become familiar.  Automization is practice not genetics.