By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

In general, members of Generation X have fun with Facebook, text messaging and blogging. They understand and appreciate the latest mix of technology. But they occasionally have to disconnect to get back for touch with the real world, unlike the new generation called "digital natives."

For the younger crowd, who grew up using 21st century technology, a world without a mouse, keyboard and ubiquitous Internet access isn't imaginable. They have little or no idea of how things can be done without the help of digital technology. They're never out of touch.

Marc Prensky, who coined the term, says the up-and-coming generation is made up of natives of the digital age, which is what fundamentally sets them apart from their predecessors, who are often referred to as "digital immigrants."

"As digital immigrants ― like all immigrants, some better than others ― they always retain their accent, that is, their foot in the past," Prensky wrote in his article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants."

This accent can be seen in such behavior as turning to other means of information before using the Internet, he said.

"Printing out your e-mail to read it, needing to print a document to edit it and bringing people physically into your office to see an interesting Web site" are examples of the digital immigrant accent, said Prensky, who explained that digital natives are different because they have been digitally hardwired since birth.

He has calculated that a typical 21-year-old entering the workforce today has, on average, played 5,000 hours of video games, exchanged 250,000 e-mails, instant message and mobile text messages and spent more than 10,000 hours on their cell phones.

So what does this mean for employers?

"First and foremost, a well-informed understanding of this emerging generation is critical," said Kim Bo-kyung, head of Trend Academy, a group of trend spotters.

He said digital natives are commonly known to be technologically confident, good at multi-tasking, creative, energetic and socially connected, all characteristics that employers can take advantage of.

But certain drawbacks put them behind their less-savvy predecessors.

For example, experts say this generation of young workers have little patience, lack communication skills and have a short attention span.

"Together, the two groups can achieve great things," wrote Harwell Thrasher, an author and adviser on the human side of information technology, on his blog. "But is it really fair to ask which group is better?"

He said the younger generation will develop the skills they need to resolve the problems of the future.

"We learn, we grow, we evolve, we adapt to the new world in which we live. The natives of one world become immigrants to the next," he said.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr