The internet is a marvelous, but also terrifying place. Tons and tons of information can be easily accessed. I was having a conversation with my mom about “our digital world.” I recall being frustrated that my computer wouldn’t open up an article that I needed to read for class. My mom said “when I went to U of S not very many people had their own computers and if I wanted to open up an article, I had to do it at the library.”
This got me thinking about Michael Wesch’s An anthropological introduction. “The internet is not just about information, it is about linking people, linking people in ways we have never been linked before, and in ways we can’t even predict because its always changing.” There is no doubt that technology is rapidly changing, it has changed since my mom went to school, and it is going to continue to change now that I am in school. Wesch explains in his video that technology changes every six months on the internet. (That is fast!)
Technology is in so many of today’s classrooms. There is almost no way around it. I know that for myself, ClassDojo was a large part of my internship, as well as the smartboard and the document camera. I had students use chrome books and iPads as much as I could too.
I never even thought twice about using technology in the classroom, it was just the norm. The Wesch video explains that the internet is not just used for retrieving information, but linking others with information as well. We don’t even realize how connected we are! He also uses the word “media scape” and describes how we as individuals are the center of the “media scape” and information travels fast through us.
New apps are constantly coming out. In class we talked about a wide variety of apps (Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok etc.) and the dangers of social media. As a future educator I know that both the benefits and dangers of technology need to discussed with students. They need to understand how to engage with technology in a safe manner. I think it is critical that students know both the pros and cons of using technology.
Personally, it is hard to think about what the future holds for classrooms and technology. It is unpredictable. I do know that technology will continue to link us together. For example, Wesch also talked about how simple it is to communicate with people all over the world. Even traveling, I rely heavily on FaceTime to communicate with family and friends back home. Or think about zoom, and how we are able to connect with each other online through this course once every week.
Technology is incredible, and I am finding it hard to condense everything I want to say in this blog, but I do think that making global connections are important.
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It’s amazing how much technology has changed over the last 15-20 years. I can relate to your mom (somewhat). Although it was the early to mid 2000’s when I attended university for my first degree, many of the articles that I needed for my papers I had to get access at the library, it was not available online. Stepping into a classroom now blows my mind because things have changed so much since I was in elementary school.
Technology fascinates me but also scares me. The fact that we can access just about anything from the internet fascinates me. Just like you mentioned, being able to connect with people on FaceTime and zoom, it has changed the way we communicate with people. However, it also scares me that other people can access and steal our identities from the internet. I agree with you that we need to educate our students about being safe online. They need to know that although technology is a wonderful thing, there are potential risks to using it.
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