Am I a digital native or immigrant?

 

Am I a digital native or immigrant?  I would definitely say I'm somewhere in the middle.  I have a smart phone/laptop/personal home computer.  I am able to navigate through social media sites, create a power point and use my Elmo and Mimio Board daily in my classroom.  I email and text constantly as my main form of communication between my colleagues  and parents, with my skating students and friends and family.  I feel I fall in the middle between my mom and my son.  My mom  is a digital immigrant and my 7 year old son is a digital native.  My mom will often say "did you get my email?" when she really means did you get my text.  When she does text me they are usually paragraphs long.  She refers to Facebook as "The Facebook".  My son on the other hand,  has his on YouTube channel (with all the privacy settings on!)  where he videos himself playing video games.  He knows how to login into different sites, buy things on Amazon and order a pizza from our local pizza restaurant. I was born in 1977 and technology was not introduced into my house until I was maybe 7 or 8.  I remember the first computer that my dad brought home.  My sister and I would get the floppy disks out and play a few games.  Video games were not big in our house until later.  I remember playing Donkey Kong/PAC Man/Dig Dug and a baseball game.  I thought wow we were so cutting edge!! We eventually upgraded to a Nintendo system but by that time I was in high school and involved with other activities in and outside of school. I feel I have kept up with the ever changing face of technology but often find myself reflecting my mom's nervous and anxious feelings towards trying something new or unfamiliar in fear of pressing the wrong key or downloading the wrong app.  I watch my son navigate through technology by watching and learning others around him and trying out different things without the fear of being wrong.  He just tries again until he figures it out....smart kid!! I should probably follow his lead!!!