Debunking the ‘digital native’: beyond digital apartheid, towards digital democracy

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dc.contributor.authorBrown, C
dc.contributor.authorCzerniewicz, Laura
dc.date.accessioned2012-08-21T13:49:07Z
dc.date.available2012-08-21T13:49:07Z
dc.date.copyright2010
dc.date.issued2010
dc.description.abstractThis paper interrogates the currently pervasive discourse of the ‘net generation’ finding the concept of the ‘digital native’ especially problematic, both empirically and conceptually. We draw on a research project of South African higher education students’ access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to show that age is not a determining factor in students’ digital lives; rather, their familiarity and experience using ICTs is more relevant. We also demonstrate that the notion of a generation of ‘digital natives’ is inaccurate: those with such attributes are effectively a digital elite. Instead of a new net generation growing up to replace an older analogue generation, there is a deepening digital divide in South Africa characterized not by age but by access and opportunity; indeed, digital apartheid is alive and well. We suggest that the possibility for digital democracy does exist in the form of a mobile society which is not age specific, and which is ubiquitous. Finally, we propose redefining the concepts ‘digital’, ‘net’, ‘native’, and ‘generation’ in favour of reclaiming the term ‘digitizen’.en
dc.formatTexten
dc.format.extent1 digital file (p.357-369 : ill.)en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationBrown, C. & Czerniewicz, L. (2010). Debunking the ‘digital native’: beyond digital apartheid, towards digital democracy. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26: 357-369. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00369.xen
dc.identifier.issn1365-2729
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10625/50163
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.journalJournal of Computer Assisted Learning
dc.subjectCELLULAR PHONESen
dc.subjectCRITIQUEen
dc.subjectDIGITAL NATIVEen
dc.subjectDISCOURSEen
dc.subjectINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYen
dc.subjectINFORMATION SOCIETYen
dc.subjectSUB-SAHARAN AFRICAen
dc.subjectSOUTHERN AFRICAen
dc.subjectSOUTH AFRICAen
dc.subjectDIGITAL CITIZENSen
dc.titleDebunking the ‘digital native’: beyond digital apartheid, towards digital democracyen
dc.typeJournal Article (peer-reviewed)en
idrc.copyright.holderBlackwell Publishing
idrc.dspace.accessIDRC Onlyen
idrc.project.number105267
idrc.project.titleICT Access and Usage in Higher Education in South Africaen
idrc.rims.adhocgroupIDRC SUPPORTEDen

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