Blog Journal 2
Throughout most of my K-12 academic experience I did not really use online word processing software. Most of my assignments were hand written until high school. The majority of my teachers required typed papers in the later years of my high school experience. During my senior year, all of my learning went online due to the pandemic. During this time all of my assignments were typed out, and for most of these assignments I utilized Google Docs. The laptop that I had at the time was a Chromebook so all of the Google applications were automatically installed. It was mostly out of convenience that I used Google Docs, and I did not have much of a preference. Now, and during most of my university academic experience I use MS Word as my primary word processing application.
The ISTE Standards for Educators are a good outline of what educators should try and encompass when teaching. I think that a combination of all of them are essential to being the best educator that you can be. I also think that some of the standards would come with time and experience in the field. To me, the standard that stuck out most would be designer because it is important to create a learning environment that fulfills each students needs to the best of its ability. The designer standard as described by the ISTE is detailed. It says that the educators should be able to use technology to create "personal learning experiences". In addition it says that educators should also be able to create diverse activities that align with the standards and use digital tools to foster deep thinking. The educator should also be able to survey and utilize "instructional design principals" to create digital learning experiences that inspire learning.
The term "digital native" is a general one. While it is true that people who were born after digital technology was already created may have the upper hand in knowing how it works, I think there are plenty of people who were born before that can understand it just as well it just may take more time. I do believe that the access that the youth of today has to technology has influenced the way we think and learn. Most school assignments are uploaded online. Most of our interactions are with people on our phones or on social media. I think it has deeply influenced the attention span of myself, and others I'm sure surely because of the rate at which we consume information.
Hi Tess! Your blog post made me reflect on my K-12 experience and reminded me of how often my teachers required handwritten assignments. I shared a similar experience to yours, as most of my essays until high school were to be handwritten which I think was partly required for students to continue developing neat handwriting. In high school, I began using MS Word more frequently because I found it was the word processing software that allowed me to be the most advanced in terms of what I was able to do. Moreover, I would also agree that technology has influenced the way we think and learn. As you said, most of our interactions are through our phones and as a generation, we spend a lot of time online. I also think my attention span has been negatively affected by this development in technology, and it will be interesting to see how it affects younger generations as they complete their K-12 education.
ReplyDeleteHey Tess! I had a relatively same experience as you did with technology. During elementary school, it was definitely more hands on learning with many worksheets. But during middle school, it was definitely technology based with lots of online labs and assignments done online. But I agree, the use of technology definitely spiked during the pandemic and remained the same after. I like the standard you picked out as it is so important to play to a students strengths and help them learn in a way that is best for them.I think that having it individualized will as you mentioned inspire learning and help them prosper.
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