Visual Literacy and the Digital Native: An Examination of the MillennialLearner

Abstract The so-called millennial learners who currently populate college classrooms are purportedly digital natives whose repeated exposure to a host of new technologies has allegedly resulted in enhanced skills in several areas, including those related to technology and visual communication. By extension, the argument has been made that digital natives have a significant degree of visual literacy. This article reports the results of an empirical study that examines these claims by assessing post-secondary students’ use of visually-oriented technologies and their interpretation of visual material. The survey data suggest that participants are not particularly adept at producing and interpreting visual communication.