1 Our technological world is taking over

Technology is everywhere. From computers to tables to phones and so much more. It is vital that teachers and students understand how to use computers. Technology literacy has become a requirement in our world today. I strongly agree that teachers nowadays should be up to date on the new technologies and the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) is a huge part of that learning process.

Today, we students are already submerged in the technological world. We use Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations, we email our teachers when we have questions, and we often go online to submit assignments. There are many other ways students use computers in the classroom, and I hope this class will help me achieve my goal of becoming more aware of all the things you can do with technology.

All the time my mom asks me “how do I make a word document?”, or says “I can’t seem to figure out how to work this thing”, well, something along those lines. She is a digital immigrant, and it’s blatantly obvious she didn’t grow up around technology. For me, I am a digital native. A digital native is those who grew up around technology; it’s usually used for teenagers, children and young adults in this generation. Digital immigrants are the older generation, where maybe technology was just beginning when they became teenagers or young adults. Technology comes easier to me than it does for my mother and my teachers, but in the future new technologies will develop that I will have a hard time with. Even now, younger kids (not teenagers like myself) are better with some technologies than I am! 7-year olds are easily able to work YouTube on their iPads while I’m still struggling with the new update. Times are changing and our technologies are developing at a rapid rate, eventually we “digital natives” will become “digital immigrants” to the new and unfamiliar discoveries in the technological world.