The term ‘digital native’ was invented in 2001 by Marc Prensky, in a paper which argued that teaching methods should be adapted to suit students who had grown up exposed to digital technology, particularly ubiquitous devices such as smart phones. Since then, like many such terms, the concept of ‘digital natives’ has been used, misused and contested. Perhaps its most simplistic characterisation is that in which young people are simultaneously capable of holding multiple conversations with their friends, streaming a film, making a video (and, these days, consulting with their favourite chatbot), while their parents or older colleagues are struggling to set the timer on the microwave.

I’m not qualified to judge whether the original use of the term ‘digital native’ was valid, or what the implications are for education (although I will observe that every generation seems to commission research which proposes that there is something weird and different about this set of young people, while describing differences that may be attributable to older people forgetting what it means to be young, and younger people lacking the experience of being older). However, I do think that there is a dangerous assumption in the term, that people who are highly familiar with a set of consumer technologies are somehow more ‘tech savvy’, and have a deeper understanding of the digital world.