NETS

My mind is boggled when I think about the rate at which technology is changing.  I think of Apple, and its almost yearly upgrades of iPods, iPhones, and iPads.  I think back to the undergrad equivalent I took of this course.  At that point, we working creating PowerPoint presentations, and Word newsletters.  That was 2006.  By the time I began my field experiences in 2009, SMART boards were just popping up.  So much has changed in just the four years since then!  My generation has grown up for most of these chnages.  In 1997, the only computer I had seen was at my mother's desk at work.  In 1998, my dad bought our first computer.  By 2008, I was learning how to incorporate technology into my future classroom!  My generation has seen computers rise, the invention of social media, and sophisticated cell phones (leading to smart-phones).  My students' generation, though, was born right in the middle of this boom.  This is all this new generation knows.  They are more connected than we (my generation) are!  With this new digital age, comes a new way of life that is even more different than the way of life that I think my generation wasn't even braced for.  I'm glad that standards were made in order to reflect this change in the classroom for both teachers and students.  Both roles are constantly changing, epecially in the face of technology.  Students will need to learn how to use technology for the "power of good"; to prepare them for their futures, which will no doubt be ruled by technology.  Teachers will also need to be able to teach students how to use technology, while also teaching students the "bascis" that we do now.