Generational differences in the digital age and generation Z:A survey on technology usage features of digital natives and digital immigrants

Communities reformed after internet-the most important invention of the Digital Age, has taken part in our lives. The communities born in the similar time internal, affected by similar economic and social formations and behave in similar manner costitute the generations. In the Digital Age a new characteristic- "digital inequalities" have been added to generations' other characteristics as idiosynchratic values, perceptions, attitudes and behaviours, strengths and weaknesses. The digital world has given birth to the concepts of "digital native" and "digital immigrant" among the generations. The last digital natives are the individuals of today's last generation Gen Z and continue to live as technology addicts. In this study, firstly information society and digital age are explained, digital native and digital immigrant concepts are defined and afterwards generations are classified, intergenerational differences and generation Z are examined. This study focuses on examining the high school students as the last digital natives and their teachers as digital immigrants and their technological preferences and technological features. Therefore a survey; "Experience with Technology Questionnaire" was administered. The participants were a group of 10th grade high school students and their teachers. The survey aims to determine the technology usage features of that two groups. The results of this micro field study has highlighted that there are no sharp technological contrast between digital natives and digital immigrants. Keywords: Information Society, Digital Age, Digital Native, Digital Immigrant, Generations, Differences among the Genertions