As I was reading the article, Teaching the IGeneration, I found myself thinking about how differently technology is viewed by different age groups. My parents, both baby boomers, were extremely resistant to signing up for the internet. They were so concerned about privacy issues and viruses that they just did not want to take the chance. Cell phones was another big taboo for them...in fact, my Dad STILL refuses to carry one! My mother, on the other hand, can no longer leave the house without hers! It took her awhile to open up to the idea of texting, but now that she has learned how, she can text with the best of them! It took me a very long time to convince her that she could take pictures on her cell phone without being charged for them...I still kinda smile about that! I have been trying to convince my mother to join Facebook, but her classic reply is that she has a cell phone and an e-mail address if anyone wants to get a hold of her.
My generation, Generation X, I feel, have been given the best of both worlds. We got to grow up in a world where kids still played outside and interacted with one another in person rather than online or over a cell phone. As adults, we now get to enjoy the incredible technologies that have been created over our lifetimes. It really has been amazing to see all of the technology that has been created since I was a child. I can still remember how cool it was to have a private phone line in my bedroom (which I paid for, by the way). I can not even imagine what it would have been like to have a cell phone with unlimited long distance when I was a teenager forced to move from Austin to San Antonio and then back again a year later. I can remember learning to program a computer using BASIC and thinking that those skills would actually land me a job after high school. What I didn't know then was that by the time I was being taught those skills, they were already obsolete.
This brings me to the generations that have followed mine. These kids have grown up in an environment where technology, although constantly changing and improving, has always existed. They have never lived without it and give funny looks to anyone who even dares to suggest that it hasn't always been available. As the article suggests, the kids know more than the adults do when it comes to technology. They don't know this because of training seminars or workshops, they know this because they LIVE it. Technology is a normal part of their everyday lives. It only makes sense that they should be instructed with technology and that they should be able to create with technology. It is my belief that as educators, we owe it to our students to step out of our own comfort zone and stop thinking about what we can't do and focus on what we must do if we want our students to be successful. This goes not only for the teachers in the classrooms, but for the decision makers (administrators, districts, lawmakers) as well.
Reading your comment, I realized the reason why many of my students enjoy the simplest use of technology so much. Most of their parents can't afford to have internet at home never the less could they afford a computer. They still get to enjoy some afternoons out in the park playing soccer with their friends.
ReplyDeleteThey see all these technologies being advertised all over the place or being used by a few of their friends. I'm so glad I'm moving away from my own comfort zone and realizing that I can still teach and keep a class under control with all the excitement they get from using technology.
Change needs to come from the top down.
ReplyDeleteI agrree: we are enjoying the technologies that were created when we were growing up. But this is such a different perspective than the iGeneration. To them, technology and information at their fingertips is the norm. They cannot comprehend the limited technology we had as youngsters just as we have a hard time understanding what it was like for our parents with even less. The world is changing and we must adapt if we would like to see our students succeed.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about being lucky enough to experience the best of both worlds. I can only imagine how technology will change in the next ten years. And even though technology is miraculous, and yes, it would have been amazing to have a cell phone and text messaging (my parents wouldn't even let me have my own phone line), I think we are even luckier because we got to enjoy both sides of the spectrum. How wonderful it was to go outside and play with friends. It would be nice if times were still as safe and kids got to do those things today. Nonetheless, I hope we as teachers can take technology and show our students how to harness that power towards improving their education and not just mindless activities that only get them into trouble.
ReplyDeleteFear of technology is a funny thing to me. Some individuals assume that technology is an evil thing. But I can see how some individuals who didn't grow up with these tools can see something suspicious with technology. I have teachers at my school who won't use some of the tools that we have access to, because they see technology as a bad thing. I have one teacher who only talks to me about how she can't work technology and how technology hates her. It's comical to me, but I try to show them that they can do it. Any one can do it. I just thing it's an unknown idea to some people, so they struggle.
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