"Get off the internet! I need to make a phone call!"

Computer lab hours were always my favorite treat in elementary school.  We each had our own floppy disc to save our files.  The paper still had the perforated edges, with tiny holes on the side to align with the printer.  During those glorious hours the biggest decision we had to make was whether to play Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego or Oregon Trail (my personal go-to).  And at the end of the day, if little Jimmy died of typhoid fever or if an eagle took Sue, it didn’t matter because we got to play on computers.

However, the article written by Bill Sheskey, Creating Learning Connections with Today’s Tech-Savvy Student really made me think --- what did I learn about technology in school?

According to Marc Prensky and Sheskey, I am a “digital native.”  I grew up during the fast pace evolution of technology.  I remember when the first Gameboy came out, when Sega stopped producing Genesis, and the glorious moment when cell phones could fit in a person’s pocket and the screens were in color.  Those moments really weren’t that long ago, ok, I confess: I still think as if the 90’s were only ten years ago.  But it seemed that after the big hurdles were made with technology (mostly in the late 80’s/90’s), it had exploded so quickly that I could barely keep up.  How did the gap between me and technology widen?

I wasn’t being taught with technology in school.  Beyond my Oregon Trail days, I rarely saw technology utilized within my classrooms.  When I graduated from high school, the entire school district was still using the old iMac G3, a model that was released in 1998.  I graduated in 2006.

Ideas mentioned by Sheskey, like bringing a computer monitor to a projection screen or using a digital camera to add an extra element to a class was never a part of my middle or high school classrooms.  As a result, if I didn’t seek out technology on my own time I was not going to be exposed to it in any other way.  And that was how the gap widened. 

As a teacher, taking the initiative to utilize technology in a classroom is crucial with present day students.  Sheskey points out, “…the young people today are digital natives,’ they will be equipped to launch the process of change in the classroom.”  Teaching is at a virtual cross roads, where as educators we need to find a better and more effective way to relate to these students who are fluent in constant stimulus and readily accessible knowledge.  Without technology, students will continue to keep the arenas of classroom and tech separate.  Gaps will continue to widen.  And worst of all, educators are missing out on a really valuable lesson on how to teach students how to utilize the web, and how to manage their ‘virtual citizenship.’

So here I am, trying this blog thing, and attempting to keep up to date on all the apps and social networking sites out there.  I don’t do this because I enjoy it; though I am a “digital native,” I’m still in the colonial days.  But I do these things in order to relate to other people, especially the younger people.