David Warlick talks about Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants and tells us to move on.

But I believe that it is time that we stop hiding behind our immigrant status, and start acting like natives. We need to stop making excuses and start leading. We are teachers, after all. It’s our job to lead, not follow. Sure, we’ll never be able to keep up with our kids in lots of ways. They have the luxury of time and their brain cells are fresher. But it is our job to look into the future and then plan and lead the way for our children.

His post – which is short and sweet – is followed up by some comments from some oldies (like moi) who maintain that, despote their age, they are Digital Natives. I disagree. Those of us who are technologically savvy, who are comfortable with the pace of change and the stuff that’s happening in the big bad world can’t be natives. We weren’t born here. like David, we still wear immigrant clothing, hair and have old style manners. We are the Digital Refugees. We are caught in the middle of both worlds and luckily (well, I believe) can see the best in both worlds.

Marc Prensky (of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants) fame, is speaking at Learning@School this week. I’m looking forward to his presentation.