As acclaimed as Prensky’s work is I don’t agree with it. My students don’t seem any more comfortable producing using new tools than “digital immagrants” are. They may learn better from digital media and the web than older people but I’m not sure this is because their brains are wired differently. I think it has to do with their voluntary exposure to the technologies. Older people who choose to expose themselves to these technologies can be just as comfortable with them; older people can be just as facile with these emerging technologies if they choose to spend time playing with them.

It seems to me (I’ve not collected any hard data to support this) that age is not a very good predictor of ability to use emerging technologies. It may simply be that young people tend to be more flexible and willing to try new things. This is not confined to the digital world. Kids will pick up and drop new sports or hobbies far more frequently than adults, for example.

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