The "native-immigrant dichotomy" and Prensky’s descriptions do not generalize outside the U.S. In developing countries, the technology is less prevalent, electricity often scarce, and literacy rates low (Palfrey & Gasser, 2008).
The birth-based definitions and trends as well as the corresponding technological advances are not applicable to most European, Eastern European, and Asian countries. The 1980s and ‘90s were periods of rapidly falling birthrates. Only Russia experienced an “Echo Boom” similar to that in the U.S. The child poverty rates were still quite high in many Western countries during those years.
In addition, the economies and socio-economic structure in those countries limited the access, purchase, and use of the technologies to middle-class and wealthy families. Probably only a few of the characteristics of the Net Geners reported in most survey results would apply to the students from those families (Palfrey & Gasser, 2008). The profile is not international or global as far as the survey evidence collected so far tells us.
So what weight can be attached to the characteristics of the Net Geners? There is value in knowing those charactersitics to help us understand them and their culture. However, the limitations must be acknowledged for those students nationally and internationally who do not have access or interest in the technology. Appropriate caveats should also be given for any conclusions drawn.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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