Last week we looked at boyd’s introduction section on networked publics.  We learned more about the opportunities and challenges teens face as they navigate networked publics.   This week we will continue our learning by looking at the rhetoric surrounding teens use of technology with the following questions and pages in the text of It’s Complicated (p. 22-24) in mind:

• Consider your thoughts regarding this quote on page 22:

“Just because teens are comfortable using social media to hang out does not mean that they’re fluent in or with technology. Many teens are not nearly as digitally adept as the often-used assumption that they are “digital natives” would suggest.”

• Why is the rhetoric of digital natives-digital immigrants dangerous for us to embrace as educators?

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ABOUT the book

dana boyd (yes her name is in all lowercase) is one of the world’s experts on youth and social media.  Her new book, is now out and certainly worth a read.  There are several copies available for check out in hard copy, however the entire PDF of her work is available for free here.