Blog Post #1

Teachers have an obligation to arm their students with the tools to flourish in both their future academic career and eventually the work force. In our modern society, technological literacy is a necessity to accomplish this, so teachers are influenced by this need to use technology in their classroom. Teaching students how to use technology also aligns with many standards that many teachers must satisfy such as Common Core. Technology also helps teachers to present information in different ways that can benefit different types of learners. PowerPoints with lots of graphs and diagrams may help visual learners more, while computer programs can help students who are kinesthetic learners who need to actively perform tasks in order to retain information. Even podcasts can be played in the classroom for students who are more auditory learners. The students are generally influenced to use technology by their teachers in the classroom setting to satisfy their specific educational needs.

The ISTE Standards are a set of standards written by the International Society for Technology in Education outlining what specific skills are necessary to effectively implement technology into the classroom. They are written in a way that not only helps students to learn more effectively, but helps teachers to teach more effectively. These standards help prepare students for their future in a workforce where most jobs require basic computer skills. I like the standard that says that a teacher's use of technology should "facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." I feel like in my academic career, post elementary school, students were encouraged less and less to be creative and instead we were given strict guidelines to follow for all assignments. Technology is an incredibly useful thing and if can be used to keep students creative then I think it should definitely be utilized. I do not think that the skill of  "demonstrating fluency in technology systems..." is something I currently posses. I'm sure that by the end of this class however, I will be better prepared for any challenge the digital world may throw at me.

I would agree with the phrase "digital native" to describe today's youth. They have been raised in a society where nearly everything is dependent on technology. An age before computers is hard to image not only for them, but for some who had to become accustomed to the overwhelming presence of technology in their lives. I've found that most people that would be considered digital natives have an ability to solve problems more naturally with technology. They have more an instinct to fix computer problems and have to look things up less. Digital "immigrants" such as my father and people around his age have less patience with technology. They tend to give up more easily rather that clicking around trying to solve their problem, and they usually look it up. This difference has not really had any effect on my learning experience, since often teachers will get the students to fix their technology problems if they can't fix it within a minute or so themselves. As technology advances and I become more out of touch with new technology, I'm sure that I will react similarly to current "digital immigrants" by asking the internet and others to help to fix my technology problems.