Digital Natives, is that what we are turning into?

I believe that computers are essential for educational experience today because of how far technology has come and how our generations are becoming so engulfed in technology. As a student myself, I know kids are constantly on their phones, or computers during class and rather than let them surf the web on meaningless websites, teachers should find ways to interact with them through their devices. This will drawn in the attention of the students and allow them to better use their devices during class. Computers also allow students to achieve their full academic potential because it is providing them with interacting tools that can help them to increase their knowledge. A concern that I have with teachers and students using computers it that the content being seen is hard to monitor 24/7. A student can be on a computer and not be doing the correct assignment and unless restrictions are specifically put on each computer, the student is able to go off task and do something not related to their work. Also, some teachers and students do not have access to computers or do not have the basic knowledge of how to use computers. This would require teachers and students to be taught how to use them and also these expensive machines would need to be provided to those who could not obtain them themselves. I believe that I will use computers in my classroom as a side tool, it will not be the primary learning method in my class. I plan on teaching younger ages of children and I believe I should not submerse them into technology so early, and they should still be exposed to the traditional learning methods that I experienced as a child. The computers will primarily be used for kids to look up certain information and play educational games. The issues raised in chapter 1 are valid concerns that I too agree with. It shows a different perspective for using computers and I think that it can help to show benefits of computer use in classrooms.

I believe that “Digital Native” is an accurate label for my generation along with the younger generations. More often than not you see kids younger and younger receiving smartphones and tablets to use for entertainment all day long. I remember not getting my first phone until high school, and even then it was not a smartphone. As a babysitter, I personal experience my toddlers constantly grabbing at my phone, trying to play games and use the incredible invention that is a camera. These young children seem to know just as much about my phone as I do and they are only children. Technology has had much more of an impact as they grow up, providing entertainment and education all the time. I see a big different in the use of technology between my peers and teachers. Older genrations are not as adapted to the newer technologies and many of them do not seem to have an intentions of learning how to use these technologies because that is not what they grew up on. I can personally relate, my high school Italian teacher refused to use the smart boards provided in classrooms and rather used the chalkboard/white board provided. She did not feel that his technology would benefit us anymore than the traditional ways she used. I think that younger generations like technology more because it allows you to do so much more than you can imagine and it pushed boundaries that old teaching methods could not.

Personal learning networks are various communities of people that you are able to interact with to learn more about education. These people vary from peers to professional and can be very helpful in sharing information on different grade level classroom ideas or helping to give solutions to questions. These personal learning networks provide you with different lesson plan ideas comprised by masters teachers to allow you to present yourself online in a professional manner. They also help you to find solutions to teaching questions and problems you may be faced with.

Blogs I have commented on:

https://se11b.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/post-1/comment-page-1/#comment-1

https://klh13e.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/first-blog-post/comment-page-1/#comment-1