Do you ever stop and think?

Do you ever stop and think about how much technology is around us and how much technology has already come and gone to a certain extent?  When we say technology our society assumes that it must involve a computer and the internet and that without those two items there is no technology.  Are they right?

There are so many technology items that we knew when we were younger and that everything about these items were cutting technology at the time they were mainstreamed.  For example take a record player, if you think about the first record player it was large and cumbersome usually with a large cone like structure attached to it.  When I was little my record player was a Fisher Price beige and tan plastic item that was meant to withstand all sorts of abuse from children.  Now today, I would love to know how often people still use a record player, and in some cases I'm sure there are people reading this blog that have no idea what I am even talking about.  But when I turned on my record player and I heard Bruce Springstein through the speakers I was living and breathing the best technology that I could have ever imagined.

When my brother and I finally saved up enough money to buy our Nintendo (yes, the original one) you couldn't tell us that there was better technology out there.  Our gaming console was not in 3D, it did not work through motion sensors, we did not actually jump around to get our little Mario to jump we sat on the floor because our controllers had wires that connected to the console and we hit the buttons that caused Mario to jump from brick to brick and gather the mushrooms to free the princess.  Now the gaming technology is of course far better.  Gaming consoles are created solely on motion sensors, and they are 3D and you have a plethora of games to choose from and you are able to get exercise while playing video games.  This technology floors me honestly.

I could go on and on in regards to technology that has come and gone so to speak and when it was here you could not convince someone that it was not technology or that it was not cutting edge.  So, take a few moments and look around you sometime to see the technology that you are missing that you use everyday.  When you get your phone out of your pocket, have you ever wondered what we did before cell phones (like wasn't that bad), when you turn on your IPOD while you are running have you ever wondered what people did before these?  When you turn your radio on in the car remember that not all cars came with radios for a long time.

Of course the standard technology is there and will always be there.  We are a lucky society that we are able to turn on a computer and have the entire world at our fingertips, that is something that I am sure some people thought would never happen.  But take a minute today and tomorrow and realize that technology is all around us.

Another day, another technology assignment

My oldest daughter is now in the 4th grade and with another year comes another month of technology projects.  This time around she has to create a PowerPoint presentation on entrepreneurship.  Teaching a child to use a computer program can be very tiring and can try on a parents patience.  Which brings me to my problem with technology in our schools today.  I have come to the conclusion that teachers make a big assumption that based on the age of parents with children in the elementary school that we should know all there is to know about technology and that we should be able to teach our children all about it as well.

My knowledge of technology is very limited when it comes down to it.  I am able to turn on a computer and check email, facebook, type a paper in Word.  I am also able to very basics in Excel along with PowerPoint.  I have had to teach myself over the last couple of months how to create a blog, how to use Google Docs, and what the heck Twitter is.  In all honesty I don't see much of a point in most of it.  I don't understand how there is so much assumption that every house has a computer and that every parent is able to help and teach their children how to use said computer.

I feel that teachers need to remember that our generation didn't grow up with computers, in fact, my parents didn't buy our first computer until I was a senior in high school and that was only 15 years ago.  In fact I still know houses in our area that do not own a home computer and who's parents have never been on a computer before.

At the end of the day I just suggest that our education field remembers that overall technology is still fairly new to a lot of our generation and it is trying to get these projects done at home.  

Technology is Everywhere

In the year 2012 it seems like a lifetime ago since I was in elementary school, middle school, or high school.  Heck, even undergrad seems like a lifetime ago.  When I was growing up there were very few computers around and the ones that were in people's homes seemed that they weren't actually used.  I did not have a computer in our school for elementary school or for middle school.  And when I went to high school I never took a computer class, instead my dad forced me to take a typing class (which I will forever be grateful for). My parents bough their first computer when I was a freshman in college and I taught myself how to use it.  I eventually took a basic computer class in college that went over the basics of Word, Excel, and how to build a website.  This was clearly well before 2012.

Now I watch my own children both able to use numerous technologies.  They both are able to work the remote for the tv, the dvd player.  They both have Ipod shuffles that they use, they both are able to utilize the internet and they both have their own computers.  Have I mentioned that they are 6 and 9 years old?

It is hard to believe all the technology that we have in our world and it is only getting better and better daily.  When our oldest was in the 2nd grade she created 2 major projects using digital storytelling with her teacher.  She created one voice over based on a spooky story that she wrote for Halloween and the second one was a computer animation that she created.  She also had to write, produce, cast, and edit her own short movie while she was in 2nd grade.  These were 3 amazing projects that she loved creating throughout the school year.  And her teacher realized that technology is extremely important to use daily in his classroom.  Our daughter also loved the daily use of the Smart Board that was in that classroom as well.

I am hoping through this class that I am able to explore numerous technologies that one day I will be able to use in my own classroom.