The Digital Literacy Myth: not all are natives

The all-pervading belief that every member of Generation Z (defined as those born since the mid-1990s) is a ‘digital native’ (Prensky, 2001) is one that has become inculcated knowledge within UK higher education and as such, has informed much of the planning that goes on when designing courses and lectures. This has become especially relevant during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst there have been some dissenting voices (Brown and Czerniewicz, 2010; Kirschner and De Bruyckere, 2017), universities within the UK have increasingly focused on finding ways to harness the perceived benefits of embracing new technology and hence appeal to a generation that has been reared on a constant diet of technological innovation.