The rise and fall (?) of the digital natives

Abstract

Building on the earlier net generation and millennials concepts, Prensky popularised the notion of a generation of “digital native” students through his 2001 two-part series “Digital natives, digital immigrants”. Although his ideas about how students perceive and utilise technology resonated with many educators, they lacked supporting evidence. Subsequent investigations, which informed the so-called “digital natives debate”, produced largely contrary evidence and dissenting views. As dissemination and acceptance of this evidence grew, interest in the idea of students as digital natives should have waned. However, a detailed analysis of general and academic search data and of articles publish..