The Digital Natives project is a collaboration between the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Digital natives, a term made popular by Marc Prensky, are young people whose use of technology is completely ingrained in their lives. Digital natives have grown up always-on and constantly-connected. Digital immigrants, on the other hand, migrated to these technologies later in life and, while many are just as connected as their youthful counterparts, they remember a time in a pre-networked society. The impacts of this generation gap are many, with potential for misunderstandings between natives and immigrants to arise. It is largely immigrants, however, that are creating the laws and policies surrounding technology use, that will shape the way technology will be used and regulated in the years to come.
The project's goal is to better understand young people's experiences with digital media, including Internet, cell phones and related technologies. By gaining insight into how digital natives make sense of their interactions in this digital lanscape, we may address the issues their practices raise, learn how to harness the opportunities their digital fluency presents, and shape our regulatory and educational frameworks in a way that advances the public interest.
