Born into the Digital Age in the south of Africa: the reconfiguration of the “digital citizen

1. Born into the Digital Age in the south of Africa: the reconfiguration of the “digital citizen Laura Czerniewicz Cheryl Brown

2. Where we are coming from • Terminology such as “digital native” and “net-generation” has increasing exposure in our media • But more problematically, there has been an increase in its acceptance as a valid concept in local conferences, and amongst university management • Prensky’s characterisation of the “digital native” is just assumed to apply to our students

3. South African Higher Education context Substantial restructuring of the Higher Education sector since apartheid ended in 1994 full-scale institutional mergers and restructuring has taken place since 2005 student enrolments have increased by 30% since 1994 increased student diversity with 22% more black students entering the sector since 1995 No national educational technology policy Resource constraints (esp ICTs) and competing demands

4. Where we started • Like many of our colleagues in this symposium (egEnyon, Jones) we started with a survey. • A research project on ICT access and use for teaching and learning in SA higher education over past 7 years including • Two surveys of 10 110 students in total • 2004 - 6 universities in Western Cape • 2007 - 6 universities in other parts of South Africa • Identified specific clusters of students

5. Third phase Abbreviated 2009 survey of 466 students at 4 diverse universities Focus on specific clusters 140 phone first interviews 6 focus groups

6. Some findings • Not about age, experience is important • Students born into millennial generation cannot be assumed to have grown up digital • Homogeneity cannot be assumed in terms of computer experience • There are students with low, medium and high levels of computer experience in all age groupings

7. “digital native” – an elite Grown up using computers > 10 yrs experience Learnt to use a computer by teaching themselves or through social networks ie family and friends Able to solve ICT problems themselves or by drawing on supportive social networks In the 2007 survey this applied to only 11% - 375 students

8. “digital stranger” – a concern not just a matter of “natives” or “immigrants” there is a significant group of the millennial generation students who lack experience and opportunity to use ICTs In 2007 (22% - 734 individuals) Not had access to a computer before they attended university Had less than 2 year experience using a computer Relied on formal channels to acquire this knowledge Such polarisation indicates that the “the digital natives and the “digital stranger” are on opposite sides of a worsening digital divide.

9. But. Cell phones and our students Ownership is ubiquitous Ownership is not socially differentiated Main means of access to Internet off campus for students from low SEGs Type of internet access for low SEG students

10. Should we be surprised? No, because….. South Africa has the third largest mobile internet using population in the world South Africa ranks 6th in the global Top 10 for mobile internet usage, ahead of both the US (7th) and the UK (9th) Mobile internet in South Africa is among the least expensive in the entire world; traditional desktop access is still among the most expensive

11. What about mobiles and learning? % of cell phone time spent for academic purposes

12. What does this mean for our students?

13. Understanding the issues Tale of two students (Sipho and Nhlanhla) young black males, live away from home attend different universities within the same province Neither speak English as a first language with isiXhosa being Sipho’s home language and Nhlanhla’s isiZulu, Siphogrew up in a rural context & Nhlanhlain an urban one

14. Understanding changing habitus • Bourdieu, a step back • The social world a space with several intersecting dimensions • Key concepts: • Field • Capitals • Habitus

15. Field • Field seeks to explain and define the structures or systems within which individuals attempt to achieve their outcomes. • Higher education is one of a series of relatively autonomous worlds or fields whose complex interactions constitute society • Field a site of struggle

16. Capitals • Capital- • the resources individuals possess that grants them power within a field • Economic – cash , assets • Social- networks “who you know” • Symbolic – recognition, value, status, • Cultural • relates to knowledge • 3 types, embodied, objectified, institutional

17. Cultural capital • Embodied Capital • Skills, competencies and knowledge, representation of self image • Objectified capital • Physical objects, the props and tools – their meanings, their gatekeeping role • Institutional capital • Institutional capital is the formal recognition of knowledge, qualifications

18. Habitus • Is about being in the world, identity • Is about how all the different constructs come together, the dynamic and shifting relationship between particular field and capitals • “the mental structures through which individuals apprehend the social world … the product of the internalization of the social world”

19. Nhlanhla “digital native” • Objectified capital • lives in residence (close to campus) • uses one of three university laboratories on campus one of which is open 24 hours a day. • has access to “pretty much all the things that any post-teen /young adult has access to… cell phone, the walkman the iPod, laptop, computer and the internet.” • has a smart phone, not even a year old, and has internet access and wifi so if he can find a hotspot he can use his phone for downloads. • would prefer to have internet on his laptop but his “mother complained about the bill so she disconnected it”.

20. Nhlanhla • Embodied capital • computers dominated his formative ICT experience • acquired his first cell phone when 12 years old. • was motivated to start using technology by interest “since my father was also into it, and we enjoy doing the same things, we both got into it”. As he was growing up he “would read about technology in magazines, etc”. • is extremely confident using technology saying he finds pretty much everything easy because “I’ve grown up with computers so i can do all the basics and quite alot of the advanced stuff”. • Is confident- I’ve grown up with computers so i can do all the basics and quite a lot of the advanced stuff”.

21. Sipho “digital stranger” • Objectified capital • Lives away from campus and has an old desktop computer for university that he describes as “not that good, the thing is old. It has Windows 2000. So it lacks some things, anything that requires javascript it can’t accommodate”. • Uses general university labs which require booking and have a time limit and his department labs which “we have to share them with the first years, second years, all those guys.” • His father and brother do use a computer at work and when he goes back home he takes his computer with him and “we only use it to play music and fun and games, that kind of thing, so nothing serious that we do” • also has a cellphone with WAP s well as a flashdrive.

22. Sipho • Embodied capital • digital experiences developed first through his cell phone which his parents bought him in his final year of school • taught himself how to use the cell phone via the manual and how to use a computer by downloading computer tutorials through the Internet on his cellphone, then working through them on his desktop. • did not take a computer literacy course when he started university because he was confident using ICTs • but he has had training through his degree program as he is studying computer science.

23. Sipho • Embodied capital includes attitude • Sipho is passionate about knowledge Yes, you must always search so that you remain up to date—so that you avoid being outdated. In other words in order to be up dated you must subscribe to those development sites, so that you often get news letters—so that you know what is happening currently—what is happening just around.”

24. Comments • The role of the cell phone • Both students do have and use on campus access • off campus there are differences in terms of computer access but both have and prioritise cell phones • For Sipho • it is through the cellphone that he has the majority of his ICT-mediated social engagement • For Nnhanhla • although he has a myriad of technological devices, his cell phone is his first preference in terms of internet access, what he would buy and select

25. Comments • Bourdieu reminds: • The differences between people’s choices as “the opposition between the tastes of luxury (or freedom) and the tastes for necessity. • Individual intersections and configurations of access and the field differ • Nhlanhla • Wider range of options • Makes choices in order of preference • Sipho • Make choices that are more strategic and driven by specific activities

26. Comments • Habitus not fixed, but can more fluid • Sipho’s habitus has been “reconfigured” by access to embodied capital in the form of a ubiquitous technology • The role of symbolic capital is the cases of both students is pertinent • These renegotiations occur in relation to the field • Both students in a better position in terms of the field of higher education • Possibilities for all democratic access for all students