BACK IN MY DAY: The changing face of technology

The primary influences on technology use in the classroom would have to be subject relevancy, accessibility, and faculty understanding. First of all, technology in the classroom has to supplement curriculum. In order to foster technological learning and progress students through the curriculum, lesson plans must be curated so that the use of technology is relevant to the subject matter and appropriate for the skill at hand. Otherwise, it can detract from student focus and become the center of a lesson. More importantly, however, is the question of accessibility.  Teachers that have easy access to technology will be more comfortable utilizing tech in their own classes and are more likely to receive training and support from their administration. Access to technology is a privilege not provided to all schools and should be considered when constructing national technology standards. Specifically, the ever changing face of technology means that schools that are in lower SES areas receive older, cheaper, and out-of-date technology which is potentially less relevant to students.

The ISTE standard that most resonates with me personally is the necessity to become an informed digital citizen. I believe that it is important to recognize the strength of a digital community. In the same way that students develop a set of social and ethical knowledges through their experiences at school, navigating the digital world teaches students how to interact with others. Discussing the rights, norms, and ethics of collaborating with others online is a critical part of developing connected, discerning, and empathetic learners.

As an educator, I have not yet mastered designing effective digital platforms for students to interact with. While I am very competent at navigating established platforms, I have difficulty using those platforms as a learning space. So, I intend to improve my ability to weave technology into my lesson plans in order to promote deep learning and understanding. Hopefully, this will also give me a way to tangibly assess learning progress in my students.

Personally, I believe “digital native” is great term to describe those people who have grown up using technology. However, I think we need to narrow the scope of who we consider to be a “digital native”. In order to be considered a “digital native,” one must: be exposed to modern technology at a critical developmental point, have immediate and personal access to modern technology, and have the ability to navigate that technology independently. Therefore, we cannot generalize “today’s youth” as automatically being “digital natives” because it glosses over those who lack access to technology. While I don’t know if I consider myself to be a “digital native” as I was educated in a screen-free environment until the age of 10, I still see a difference between the way I utilize technology and the way older generations utilize technology. The primary difference being the establishment of online communities. While older generations typically connect with those they already have contact with in real life, younger generations are more comfortable reaching out to others. Online role player games, tumblr support groups, twitter hashtags, and livestreams offer young people intimate access to people outside of their traditional circles. In this way, young people make more connections online than off. Think tinder. We are more interested presenting our whole selves online and forming a new network than curating a specific image.