Week 2 Readings

I was pretty shocked at all the terms I read that I wasn't familiar with. I like to think of myself as somewhat technology saavy but I guess that's not true compared with today's youngsters. Some of the student's perspectives in Educause seemed to be frustrated. My language doesn't differ much from theirs in some aspects - I can use debit cards and credit cards and in fact, sometimes it's hard for me to carry cash. I just don't do it anymore. I wa super surprised by the fact that a professor did not read e-mail....I think this is a bit extreme but I guess it still happens. I've never done twitter, or flickr, or any of those terms mentioned. My goal is to start podcasting because I like what I read in the articles - students can truly be creative. Blogs are super convenient - now that I've started using one, I can see why. I agree with the students when they say they won't forget their homework at school, it can be done on Sundays or whenever you're sick too! I believe teachers need to become more familiar with these practices if we expect to FACILITATE instruction.

In reference, to GoogleDocs, one of the articles was right on the money when stating that today we have more internet producers than consumers. The internet used to be something far away that everyone could use but no one knew how to create. Now you have GoogleDocs allowing you to create and edit text while sharing with real-time users. I am completely unfamiliar with this program but think I could learn to use it.

I hope that my students never feel like that student did in EduCause.....sitting only 4 feet away but feeling light years of separation between them.

Class 2

As I read about the Net Gen tonight, I realized how much I'm a part of that. While I read the introduction of the text, I noticed I have an advantage as an educator because I'm young and able to use much of the technology that is available to students today.

First of all, I got flashbacks from college when I read the second chapter which started by explaining a college student who wakes up and checks how many IMs he missed while sleeping! Not only that, it mentioned the fact that he no longer goes to the library to research, but prefers doing online research. This is so true! I think this has a huge influence on how our students today learn because I remember in college, I had to get help from professors to research - thank God for online journals! One of the things that educators need to remember today is that students are very visual and kinesthetic thanks to all the techonology that is available. Students today can be texting under their desks as the teacher is lecturing and they don't even have to look down at their phones to do so! This is why it's so important to keep them involved.

One of the important things that I read is the classifications that were created to see how many students had internet access. It seems as though students from even lower income families may still have internet access. They may not have it as much as higher income students do, but it's there. If they don't have internet access then they have other technological things like PSPs, Ipods, Xbox, Playstation, Wii, and more. The main impact to me was the distance learning because I teach courses like this at my church - this truly benefits adults that work full-time to support a family but still want to earn a second degree. Technology should not be looked down on as much as it is with today's students, because it has also encouraged more groups to study, and it has facilitated instruction for many.

Wow - is all I have to say for the Natives article. Many of the things are true - learners are different today. However, I do think the article was a bit radical. I'd like to stick somewhere in the middle of all this. Truthfully, although learners have changed, they are still human-beings and love human interaction and having discussions in class. There are normal things in their lives and they don't ALWAYS prefer to text or chat, they do still love to see their friends in person and do things older people that are "non-digital natives" or "digital immigrants" have done. While I was reading, I remembered one of the chapters in our text which explained how a poll was taken and many students were still 50-50, they liked both teacher lecture AND interaction. I think this is very true. We don't need to teach ONLY TECHONOLOGY, or ONLY TRADITIONAL LECTURES, but we need to provide a balance. We also can't create a generation of robots that can't communicate with others unless it's via something techonological...

Someone once complained, "I don't know why these kids today can't function if they don't have calculators....they can't even do math in their heads anymore!" I would have loved to reply, "Would you walk 15 miles to get somewhere despite the fact that cars exist?" or, "Would you opt for a surgery w/out anesthesia?" I think there needs to be a balance but the older generation also needs to accept that today's kids aren't dumb, they just have a different way of learning and have a few more perks available to them.....

1st day of class

*sigh*

And I thought the last course I needed for certification would be easy....