Blog Journal 1

          Teachers find it advantageous to use technology because it encourages the 21st century kids to learn. For these teachers to be successful in the classroom they have to prepare the children properly because technology will be a necessary skill for them to have when they get a job. There are many new programs and standards set in place that require teachers to have a better understanding of the technology that they are using in the classroom, such as the standards set by the NCATE, the TEAC, and the CAEP. Students want to use technology in the classroom because it provides them with a deeper understanding of a topic and the technology can make them look at a situation differently and more critically than a teacher can make them think. Computers and phones can help students connect with each other from different places so they can look at situations from a different angle.
          The ISTE standards for students include all the ways that students and teachers can use technology to improve themselves in this technology-driven world. ISTE standards are important for both students and teachers because they take the educators and the students out of their comfort zones to advance and learn more about each other and about technology. As a student, I identify with the computational thinker standard because I have more of an algorithmic mindset and I've worked with programs on the computer that solve problems, such as online calculators or software programming for a dysfunctional robot. However I find it difficult to identify with the innovative designer standard because I am not used to thinking outside the box to create my own solutions, and I usually do things by the book. As a teacher, I identify with the facilitator standard because a lot of learning that I experienced in middle and high school I did on my own with a facilitator watching over. Being a facilitator means being an expert in a certain subject and staying with and helping the student learn that subject on their own.
         I do agree that my generation should be labeled as "digital natives". To be a digital native, one must've grown up and been exposed to technology, such as cell phones, at a young age. In my experience, teachers have been less knowledgable when it comes to technology in the classroom than the students. These situations put us, the students, in a teaching situation and if anything it enhances our learning experience, not necessarily the learning experience on the topic, but we learn how to deal with "digital immigrants" and it's especially good for someone who wants to be a teacher when they grow up, like me. As a future educator, I see myself running into the same problems that my teachers ran into and I'll find myself behind the curve of the newest technology that comes out. As a teenager my life, and my future students' lives revolve around technology, but when I get older I will lose my technological touch because I won't have time to keep up.