1- Computers and Education

Technology has become a key part in society today because it has made things easier for us. We can now find information first hand via the internet, pay our bills, interact with people across the world, and so much more without leaving our house. By having teachers use technology it allows them to make their professional work easier as well as learning more effective. Also because educators are the ones that must ensure "the next generation is prepared for its place in our technology-rich society-technology literacy becomes even more vital" (Lever-Duffy 2). All these reasons are why educational technology has become so important in todays world. Educational technology is defined by Teaching and Learning with Technology as including "all real, analog, and digital technologies and media that can be used to support teaching and learning" (Lever-Duffy 2). Critical concerns related to teachers and students using computers are the finances associated with having technology in the classroom, time to integrate educational technology as part of instruction, cultural bias that is disinclined to support technology, and shifting the instructional paradigm. "For most classrooms, schools, and districts, lack of economic resources is the first critical challenge" (Lever-Duffy 16). I agree that this is a major concern with having technology in schools as well as the cultural bias and shifting the instructional paradigm. "Sometimes the culture of the school and the community it serves may not recognize the critical role of technology in classrooms" (Lever-Duffy 17). I agree that some schools value other interests, such as sports, before enrichment programs. I disagree however with it being a time challenge to learn and integrate classroom technologies because it just takes simple time management and the end result will be more beneficial.
The ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education and they have led a federally funded initiative to develop standards for technology for teachers, students, and other educational professionals. This project is called the National Educational Technology Standards (NETs). One ISTE standard that gladdens my heart is "facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity". This makes me happy because I believe it is a teacher's responsibility to inspire their students to want to know more and help them keep their creativity up. As a teacher I want my students to grow and learn more while also enjoying learning. One standard that seems outside my current skill set is the "design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments". This requires teachers to "design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the StandardsS". I'm not sure exactly what this means and how I would accomplish this. I would need to learn more technology skills before I could be confident I could do this.
I agree with the term "digital native" as well as "digital immigrant". To be a "digital native" means growing up with technology all around you which is how today's youth have grown up. Because I grew up with technology all around me I consider myself a "digital native" and have noticed differences on how I use technology than how "digital immigrants" such as some of my teachers use it. My teachers and other "digital immigrants" usually don't use shortcuts and take awhile to get computers up and running how they want. They spend more extra time than they need to trying to turn up volume or minimize a window or such which meant less time for learning and caused me frustration because they wouldn't accept help. Some of my teachers even refused to use technology which caused me to not absorb everything as easily as I should have been able to. I anticipate my future students to even more dependent on technology than I am. Technology will be a key part in learning for most students in the future I believe and they will know more than me just like I am with my teachers now.