This was a good chapter. I like how it starts out by asking us to think back to when we were in school. I can think back to chalk boards, slanted desks, metal lunch boxes and classrooms having hard wood floors. I remember the start of every school year included a package of 8 crayons and a black and white notebook. What is also strange is that I walked to school with my two sisters. We walked over 2 miles each way! This is all so different from today. Today school starts with a supply list from the school and a debit account number to pay for lunch.
I am always amazed how technology continues to change. I grew up in a house that had one telephone and it was a party line ( we shared a number with our neighbor). Today, I have five phone numbers that are associated with my home. Is this crazy or what?? This good news is that for the students in school today, they have always been around technology. Of course it has become faster, smaller and you can go more with it, but they have always had it. I remember first using a word processing program. I thought it was the coolest way to journal (instead of using a notebook). Technology has moved beyond that to blogging.. The blogger survey table on page 15 shows us that the major reason people blog is "to express yourself creatively". Wow. What is so great is that you get feedback from others. This gives us the opportunity to stay in touch with families, but also to expand our world far from our own neighborhood.
As chapter one tells us that by using current technology we give our students the opportunity to to see and learn in an environment that they are used to. They will need to have strong technology skills in order to meet employer expectations in their career fields. We as educators need to include as much technology as we can in our lessons...Our students are used to working and learning in an virtual environment by keeping ourself up to date on what is available to use in the classroom, will only have a positive outcome for our students.
I found this website that listed the technology skills students need - It is pretty interesting.
http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/what-tech-skill-do-all-students-need.html
I also found this article on how early should your child use technology. It starts at age one!
http://familyinternet.about.com/od/introtofamilycomputing/a/growthchart.htm
Hi Maureen-Thanks for sharing your experiences with how school and technology have changed for you. I was thinking along similar lines when I read chapter 1. It is so interesting to think that our students won't know what it's like without computers or cell phones. They will have to problem solve in different kinds of ways with technology than we did without technology. The crazy thing is that when our students have children, they will have the same conversation that we are having. It will just be about something new that we can't even imagine yet. Thanks for sharing the two article links. I completely agree with the family internet article that it is necessary to teach children about technology. But I'm not sure I agree with teaching them so young. Maybe an introduction if they are curious when they see mom and dad on the computer. But, I feel that children will have so much computer time throughout their lives that in their very young years they should be developing their gross and fine motor skills by building, playing with blocks, and imagining. On the other hand, if children are exposed early, using the computer won't seem like such a novelty but more a way of life. I feel that technology is so new and exciting for kids today that many want to spend a good amount of their time with it often excluding other things like being outside or interacting with their families. Deciding how and when I will introduce my own children to technology is something I will continue to think about. Thanks again for sharing the articles and your thoughts. Laura
ReplyDeleteLaura - I love this statement. It is so true. "The crazy thing is that when our students have children, they will have the same conversation that we are having. It will just be about something new that we can't even imagine yet". I wonder what this technology will be. Our children might someday say " Hey, can you believe that we had to text people!"
ReplyDeleteMaureen, I love this statement. I look at my own children now, the digital natives who have grown up with this technology. It is such an integral part of their life. I worry that they will not be as connected to people because of all the texting etc. I think it is just that times are changing, I wonder what the next wave of technology will bring. Teleporting? Who knows? It seems unreal to me that when I was a teen, there were no cell phones. How did we survive? I can't imagine not being able to reach my children on their phones via text or calling! Kristie
ReplyDeleteP.S. Congrats on your podcast, I am dreading it. :)
JunieB -
ReplyDeleteI agree with you..."What will the next wave of technology bring?" We can only imagine. I am sure it will be smaller, faster and sleeker for sure.
Don't worry about your podcast, just write out a script of what you want to say before hand and you can really just read off of that.
Maureen - It is so true. The advances in technology in just the short amount of time that we have lived are tremendous. I remember a time we were at Canobie years ago with the kids and they looked at one of the rides (Rock and Rollercoaster), and on the outside on the top of the ride they had these big black disks. The kids said, "Wow, those are really big CD's!!" My kids had never seen a real record before and now they walk around with iPods that hold thousands of songs and hundreds of those funny black records! I know, with the changes coming in technology, we can only wonder what will be next. I think that is what makes teaching about the advances in technology as well as letting the students experiment with technology only better prepares them for that future we are so unsure of!
ReplyDelete