Net Day Results

After reading the results of the National Report on Netday’s 2005 Speak Up, I have came to the conclusion that in comparison to other students in the U.S., I am closer to that of high school students. Since I was about ten, I have been introduced to things like cell phones and computers, but I didn’t religiously using them until I was at least in 6th grade. (In fact, I didn't get my first cell phone until my sophomore in college!) Though I know more than my parents do about computers and internet, the generation behind me is already surpassing me when it comes to technological knowledge. I have a lot of work ahead of me if I’m going to teach.
As far as teaching in a high school within the next 3 or 4 years, I believe technology will have an immense impact on how individuals teach classroom instruction. I classify myself as a digital immigrant; therefore I believe I will struggle when it comes to involving technology in the classroom. When a teacher is hired into a district, they should look into what technologies the school works with, and if they are unaware how to use them, it should be their responsibility to learn how they work before entering the classroom. I feel that understanding how these technologies work and how to incorporate them into your curriculum is vital to your student’s success, because they have been growing up in a world that has always had such things like computers, cell phones, and internet. They are digital natives, so they don’t just have an understanding of how these devices work, they can’t possibly picture their lives without them. When I teach, I will be using a number of instructional strategies that involve using technology. I might assign projects that require the students to go on the web and research, or have them create a power point for a group project, and maybe creating charts and graphs using an excel program. Though it will not be my first choice for instruction, I will involve it as often as possible.
I believe technology is a great tool for enriching student teacher learning experiences. Technology has gives us the ability to communicate better and offer students with thousands of research tools. We no longer have to search through a library to find an answer to a question one might have, we have direct access and information at our hands. However, being a health major I am somewhat torn when it comes to using technology. For classroom use its great, but when it takes away from children’s physical activity, it becomes something that is no longer positive. Today, adolescents spend more time watching T.V., talking on AIM, and playing video games than ever before. Before the age of technology, kids would spend their leisure time outside riding bikes and playing sports, now their time is most often spent inside doing things like Madden tournaments with their classmates. Technology may be creating greater minds, but we it is also creating unhealthy individuals. I strongly believe technology is a major contributing factor to the rise of our obesity epidemic in this nation.