Digital natives in the scientific literature : A topic modeling approach
Mertala, P., López-Pernas, S., Vartiainen, H., Saqr, M., & Tedre, M. (2024). Digital natives in the scientific literature : A topic modeling approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 152, Article 108076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108076
Published in
Computers in Human BehaviorAuthors
Date
2024Discipline
KasvatustiedeOpettajien koulutuksen tutkimus (opetus, oppiminen, opettajuus, oppimispolut, koulutus)EducationTeacher education research (teaching, learning, teacher, learning paths, education)Copyright
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
The term “digital natives” was introduced in 2001 to describe a generation that has grown up surrounded by technology and the internet. The accompanying claims of a new way of thinking among digital natives were influential in shaping educational policy. Still, they were challenged by research that found no evidence of generation-wide cognitive changes in learners. Yet, the digital natives narrative persists in popular media and the education discourse. This study set out to investigate the reasons for the persistence of the digital native myth. It analyzed the metadata from 1886 articles related to the term between 2001 and 2022 using bibliometric methods and structural topic modeling. The results show that the concept of “digital native” is still both warmly embraced and fiercely criticized by scholars mostly from western and high income countries, and the volume of research on the topic is growing. However, the results suggest that what appears as the persistence of the idea is actually evolution and complete reinvention: The way the “digital native” concept is operationalized has shifted over time through a series of (metaphorical) mutations. The concept of digital native is one (albeit a highly successful) mutation of the generational gap discourse dating back to the early 1900s. While the initial digital native literature relied on Prensky’s unvalidated claims and waned upon facing empirical challenges, subsequent versions have sought more nuanced interpretations. Notably, a burgeoning third mutation now co-opts the “digital native” terminology for diverse purposes, often completely decoupled from the foundational literature and its critiques. This study explains the concept’s persistence as dynamic evolution of the digital native discourse in contemporary academic and public spheres.
...
Publisher
ElsevierISSN Search the Publication Forum
0747-5632Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/194910568
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related funder(s)
Research Council of FinlandFunding program(s)
Academy Research Fellow, AoFLicense
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Artificial intelligence centric scientific research on COVID-19 : an analysis based on scientometrics data
Shukla, Amit K.; Seth, Taniya; Muhuri, Pranab, K. (Springer, 2023)With the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease throughout the geographies of the globe, expertise from every field has been sought to fight the impact of the virus. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially, ... -
Between the number and the word : quantitative methods in business history revisited
Eloranta, Jari; Ojala, Jari; Valtonen, Heli; Poso, Eetu (Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2023)This article extends our earlier analysis (2010) to gauge, first, to what extent quantitative methods have been used in recent business history research and, second, the impact that quantitative methods may have had on the ... -
The composition of data economy : a bibliometric approach and TCCM framework of conceptual, intellectual and social structure
Olaleye, Sunday Adewale; Mogaji, Emmanuel; Agbo, Friday Joseph; Ukpabi, Dandison; Gyamerah, Akwasi (Emerald, 2023)Purpose The data economy mainly relies on the surveillance capitalism business model, enabling companies to monetize their data. The surveillance allows for transforming private human experiences into behavioral data that ... -
The Finnish Reproducibility Network (FIRN) : A national bottom-up approach to scientific integrity in a global context
Voikar, Vootele; Casarotto, Plinio; Glerean, Enrico; Laakso, Kati; Saurio, Kaisa; Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Scherer, Andreas (JOTE Publishers, 2023)Across sciences the lack of reproducibility has raised concerns that shake disciplinary foundations. In this article, the need for institutional solutions as one possible antidote to reproducibility issues is suggested, ... -
The Link Between Standardization and Economic Growth
Heikkilä, Jussi; Ali-Vehmas, Timo; Rissanen, Julius (IGI Global, 2021)We analyze the link between standardization and economic growth by systematically reviewing leading economics journals, leading economic growth researchers’ articles, and economic growth-related books. We make the following ...