Blog Journal 1 - Technology, ISTE Standards, and "Digital Natives"

Technology is very important in the modern classroom. I can't think of the last time I had a class that had no technology at all, with most of them at least requiring computers or using a projector. I think what influences this use of technology can really be put as simply as the fact that it's useful. Computers make writing assignments easier and less time-consuming, which makes it easier for teachers to test their students' knowledge with a writing prompt as opposed to something simple like a multiple-choice test. It also opens the door for learning tools such as videos and, hopefully soon, virtual reality experiences. This makes technology a very appealing tool to use in the classroom.

Teaching goes beyond technology, though. There is of course a human element to it- an element which ISTE has laid out some standards for. These standards state that a teacher should learn and grow even as they enter their occupation, that teachers should be leaders to students, along with a handful of other standards (you can read more about them here). Of these, I find the role of the teacher as a learner to be the most meaningful. It seems that some people get this idea that, once you finish college, you're done, you have absolutely nothing else to learn, you have reached the pinnacle of human achievement. Unfortunately, it seems some teachers take that to heart and refuse to adapt their teaching methods to changing times or new information- or maybe they aren't aware such information exists. Either way, it seems important to me that a teacher should constantly be learning new things not just for satisfaction or amusement, but because it betters their craft.

In the way of learning, I'm sure many people have had that one teacher in their past who just couldn't for the life of them figure out technology. Maybe they were unaware that Youtube plays the next video automatically, or maybe they had no clue how to turn up the volume. Personally, I had a teacher who bordered on paranoid when it came to computers. He hated the idea of putting grades online on applications like Skyward, and instead kept all grades in a massive binder until the end of the semester when he was ready to actually transfer everything over. It seems pretty clear that older generations can occasionally have their issues with technology, and this observation has led to my own generation and one or two previous ones (I think) being labeled "digital natives." I see where this label comes from, but I feel that it is kind of misguided. Simply put, I feel it's too vague in its application. It looks almost entirely at when someone was born, when even today there's something to be said about the where having a bigger effect. Someone born here in the US in the early 2000's is definitely going to be pretty comfortable with technology, but what if that person was instead born in a badly impoverished nation? Some nations still have very poor access to computers, phones, and such, and what they do have is often not very good. Yet, since this impoverished person with limited technology was born in the 2000's, they're technically a digital native despite maybe barely being aware of how to use the internet. That said, if we narrow the scope to developed nations, the term is perfectly fine. As time goes on, of course, the access to that technology is going to improve and "digital native" will actually be a suitable term the world over.