I first realized this just by observing how the undergraduates in some of my classes used technology and how their knowledge of different applications way surpassed mine. They would often mention various things that could be used in classrooms or even technology that they used when they were in school. Their experience with technology in school was completely different from mine. When we were first introduced to computers there was no mouse, we had a green screen with a turtle that was manipulated using the cursor keys. I thought I was so fabulous because I was first kid on my block to get a computer, the Commodore 64. The thing was so user un-friendly that we could not figure out what were supposed to do with it. In middle school we learned how to type by using actual typewriters. (Probably the most irritating thing is to type a report on a typewriter, it never fails that when you get to the bottom of the page, you realize there is a mistake and have to start the page over... ugh!!!!) By the time I hit high school, AOL and dial up is what it was all about, but still not everyone had access at home. There is about a 10 year difference between myself and the undergrads, not really that a huge of a difference, but when you look at how differently they use technology and how it is has changed their learning experience and their everyday life, at times I feel like it is a 30 years difference.
Then I started talking with other graduate students who were already teachers, and they would discuss the various ways in which they would include technology in their classrooms. This is when I got nervous, because prior to starting this program, I had rarely thought to use technology in such a manner. First is because in my schooling experience we never had such tools and second is that half of this stuff I did not even know about. But it makes total sense to incorporate it (whenever it is meaningful), because today the students' lives are so engrossed with technology that it would be a miss to not be using it in school. It is is an effective way to engage students but to also prepare them for their futures in which technology will continue to play a major role. In using Web 2.0, there are so many ways to enhance student learning and allow them to collaborate, communicate, enhance their critical thinking and problem solving skills, in ways that extend beyond the walls of the classroom (Schrum & Levin, 2009).
I found this video interesting. It is from the perspective of students in which they discuss the disconnect between what they are learning and how they are learning it versus what they need to learn and how they want to learn. It is pretty powerful, in that addresses how the traditional approach to education and what is being taught is ineffective in this digital world. Although this video addresses universities, I believe that it applies to all educational institutions.
