Blog Journal 1

Technology in the classroom during elementary school through high school is facilitated by teachers and consumed by students. Teachers are promoted by their superiors and fellow peers to use technology in the classroom such as using Smart Boards, teaching through Power Point lecture slides or using Kahoot games. Educational learning begins for the student when teachers put in the effort to upgrade their teaching styles. In classrooms today, especially in high school, technology is used to enable students to increase their engagement and keep them focused on the task at hand. Today's tech-savvy society influences teachers to want to learn how to use new educational technology to better facilitate learning for their students.

The ISTE Standards for Educators includes seven main points that educators should strive to become. In my opinion the most meaningful standard is the expectation the educators will act as a facilitator. Basically this standard means that educators will facilitate their students learning with technology in order to support their achievement. This includes allowing students to take ownership of their own goals and outcomes which can foster a sense of independence. Educators also have the responsibility of creating learning opportunities that challenge students to solve problems which can help them become innovative thinkers. Being a facilitator with students in grades K-12 is important because these years are when their brains need to be nurtured and stimulated. Teachers can create bright students through the use of technology.

The term "digital native" which refers to young people that excel in digital technology has become a controversial topic. There are assumptions that come with this term and the generations involved that assert digital natives have short attention spans and dislike reading which I find to be false. Although stereotypes are not always true, I have seen differences between how digital natives and my educators use technology. My peers and I easily glide through using Microsoft word and navigating Twitter on a daily basis because we have been doing this since middle school. Digital immigrants, also known as most of my professors, sometimes have difficulties using the computers they are provided for their lectures or the audio on certain videos. These differences can be due to in part to the way digital natives were raised; in a world of technology. Digitals immigrants were not born with this kind of technology and have only been using it for a decade which can explain the differences between generations. Although technology is not digital immigrants' strong suit, it does not hinder my learning experience when my professors cannot fully utilize the technology they are provided because I am used to learning from a projector. I anticipate not as many differences between myself and my future students in terms of how I use technology. I think I will be able to relate to the technological level of my students because I grew up with technology just like the way they will. This aspect of already being familiar with technology will allow me to keep up to date on new technology in the classroom.
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