I believe that computers and computer technology have greatly improved the processes by which students learn and retain information. The accessibility to millions of databases of information throughout the internet are just one reason technology is helping educate students more than we could before the creation of the internet. On the one hand though, I disagree with a portion of what is mentioned in the chapter, that computers allow a higher-level of thinking than one could reach without a computer, I personally think that computers present children with these higher levels of thinking, but it is greater for someone to reach these skills and levels of thinking on their own. But that is not to say I dismiss the beneficial aspects that computers do have on education, I simply think the ease that it creates leaves room for some laziness and short cuts.
As one could assume, the term 'digital native' refers to the modern student, one who is equipped with a specific skill set of his/her generation that allows them to work and maneuver with technologies of today with ease. I can certainly agree with this newly coined term, while I wouldn't consider myself a part of this group, it is more than evident that the youth of today are entirely immersed in technology and the internet from a much younger age than the older generations- thus it only makes sense that they are products of their digital age. I'm not particularly tech-savvy so to say, but I do notice a difference in my minute intelligence and awareness of technology in comparison to some of my older professors. For example, my last math professor was very often confused when operating the different technologies we utilized in the classroom, and it led to a certain disconnect of intelligence between the students and the teacher- I also think that if she was more of a 'digital native' my learning experience would have been better.
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