Student and faculty inter-generational digital divide: Fact or fiction?

This article analyzes the digital native–digital immigrant dichotomy based on the results of a small-scale study conducted at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry, regarding students’ and faculty members’ perceptions toward the implementation of digital learning technologies in the curriculum. The first element chosen for measurement was user perception of the impact on learning of basic software such as email, web browsers, online e-texts as well as hardware devices such as personal computers, laptops and MP3 players. In addition, the study also evaluated Blackboard, the learning management system of choice introduced by the parent university in the academic year 2006–2007. The results of this study suggest that there exists a slight inter-generational difference at the Faculty in the perceived usefulness and importance of digital technologies for learning and teaching, but that this difference is minimal, with no universal applicability. The study concludes that the digital native–digital immigrant duality is a complex phenomenon which cannot always be described in these extreme terms.