“The traditional hierarchy of adults as teachers and children as students also did not exist in the digital-storytelling learning environment because today’s youth are ‘digital natives’ who bring their own areas of expertise with new-media practices to the activity” (Avilia, 2013).
That young people are “digital natives” gives media literacy a special edge for empowering youth at this point in history. Children are digital natives while adults are not, but this will not always be true. In a few decades all people in the developed world will be digital natives. So for now the fact that young people have grown up with technology means that educators can use this to help students who are not a part of the dominant culture gain some ground against oppression. In the future, when more people are digital natives, the difference will be between those who live where technology is accessible and those who do not. This is why those charity programs that strive to give laptops and internet access to underprivileged youth or two students in developing countries seem to be a good thing. Putting technology, training, and access to things like digital storytelling can empower people who couldn’t otherwise empower themselves (with money).
The TED Talk video that I have linked here, features a speech by Nicholas Negroponte who had the idea to bring computers to schools in developing nations. He wanted to address education by “leveraging the children” (Negroponte, 2007). According to him, children in developing nations catch on to technology just as quickly as children in the U.S. Such programs seem to “teach a man to fish” by empowering students.
References
Ávila, J. (2013). Critical digital literacies as social praxis: Intersections and challenges. New York: Peter Lang.
Negroponte, N. (2007, Jun). "One laptop per child, two years on". Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_negroponte_on_one_laptop_per_child_two_years_on.html
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