Blog 1: Technology and the Classroom

As time continues to pass by, technology becomes more and more integrated into our lives as humans. Even the young generations have become acclimated with cell phones, especially social media. With this prevalence, it only makes sense to incorporate technology into the classroom. Of course there are pros and cons to this arrangement but technology involved in education, used efficiently, can be positively dangerous. Sometimes there can be a disconnect from the real world because we tend to get wrapped up in the digital world. Teachers can use this to their advantage by incorporating tech in the classroom. Smart Boards, laptops, and a few other devices have made their way into the classroom in a novel way. It is also important to acquire skills that will keep you up to date with your peers. Using and learning with technology will equip you with these skills. Also, not every student has equal opportunity to access these technological resources and using them in the classroom may be benefit them now and in the future.

Two standards that really stood out to me were "Educators use collaborative tools to expand students’ authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and globally"* and "Educators advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students"*. These were meaningful to me because both points are pivotal in terms of being prepared for the future. Someone can have all the potential and raw talent in the world but if they don’t have the right tools, then their gift can't be used to its full capacity. "Educators pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks"*. This is a standard that is outside my skill set because it takes time to develop relationships and network with others and over the course, it will develop.

Digital native is a term that I believe fits my generation and beyond. We were born and raised around the uprising of the cell phone, especially touch screen and Smart Phones (which denotes a phone being able to access the Internet). There is a separation between digital natives and digital immigrants but the distinction is slowly fading away as time goes on. It used to be that our parents had no idea how to work a phone, but now, they are quite informed and know what works for them. In a way, I feel like we take technology for granted because our parents didn’t have the luxury of Google Search and we use it as an easy crutch. I know as time goes on, there will be things that the generation after me knows about technology that I do not know and soon I will catch up to them!

*These statements were derived from ISTE Standards for Educators (iste.org/standards)