BEYOND DIGITAL NATIVES AND IMMIGRANTS: GENERATIONAL COMPLEMENTARITY IN TECHNOLOGY USE IN PRIMARY EDUCATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56219/trascendere.v2i8.6320Keywords:
generational digital divide,, pedagogical complementarity, primary education, technological mediationAbstract
Contemporary primary education constitutes a scenario where teachers and students with distinct technological experiences converge, which has reconfigured teaching-learning dynamics. This scientific essay examines the distinctive characteristics of technological appropriation between teachers and primary education students, analyzes how these differences impact pedagogical authority and classroom communication, and explores the tensions and opportunities for complementarity that emerge from the intergenerational encounter mediated by technologies. The critical review of recent academic literature demonstrates that the categories "digital native" and "digital immigrant" proposed by Prensky lack robust empirical support, as the generational gap operates bidirectionally: students demonstrate technical fluency but lack critical digital literacy, while teachers possess pedagogical judgment about when and how to integrate technologies in educationally pertinent ways. The analysis identifies that these asymmetries generate tensions in pedagogical mediation, which can be transformed into complementarity through contextualized teacher training, redefinition of pedagogical roles, horizontal dialogue spaces, and institutional policies that value generational diversity as an educational resource rather than an obstacle.
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