Digital Blog Post #A- Chapter 1

Students nowadays are known as the iGeneration because they grow up with technology as a part of their everyday life. It’s more of a second hand nature to them, it’s something children are born into versus previous generations who had to be taught how to use it. Although this is a concept that I have heard of it is not something that I have sat down and thought about. Statistics such as “two-thirds of nursery school children and 80 % of kindergartners using computers” illustrate how important technology has become to the 21^st century student.

By having the knowledge that the iGeneration grew up with technology and is immensely affected by it, I feel I can be more effective as a teacher. This means I need to prepare myself by exposing myself to many different technologies in order to reach my students. Since we live in an ever-changing world I also have to adapt and help my students adapt by incorporating technology inside the classroom. Methods that have worked for me in the past are using a smart board to enhance classroom instruction and online interactive games such as Sumdog.

This is especially important to me because I grew up as a low income students and will be working in a low income community. As we learned in chapter one students from low income backgrounds are often less exposed to technological advances. Not only will I prepare my students to become 21^st century learners but I will also have to combat this technological gap. I can teach my students the technical knowledge I lacked in order to make their transition to college and later society a smoother one than mine.

In summation, the iGeneration grew up with technology as a part of their lives, and as a teacher I need to know the best way to reach the students. I look forward to learning from both this author and class how to best achieve this goal and incorporating technology to my classroom. I have already been exposed to a plethora of ideas just in the first chapter, so I can only imagine how much I have to gain from this course. 

Resources: 

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.    

"How To Choose A Tablet For Your Kids - Sell My Mobile Blog." Sell My Mobile Blog RSS. 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 4 Sept. 2015.

"Technology and Education." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 4 Sept. 2015.

"Games That Make Learning Fun." Sumdog -. Web. 4 Sept. 2015.