Journal #2

    As a student who grew up in a school system that was always trying to keep up with technology, I am very well versed in using Microsoft Word to complete written assignments for my classes.  I was introduced to the program in my later years of elementary school, and by the time I was in middle school, I was using it to write essays for my english classes and to format presentations.  I found it easy to use, but it was a little difficult to complete tasks in a group or to be able to access my work if I didn't bring the computer I wrote it on, or if I forgot my flashdrive at home.  That's why I transitioned to using a different word processing server, Google Docs.   Due to its similar nature to Microsoft Word, it was easy to convert over.  It was much more efficient for what I needed it for, especially because I could retrieve my assignments from any computer or even by using the Google Docs app on my phone.  This especially helped a lot when I had to finish writing essays on the bus on the way to school in the morning.  Even now I still prefer to use this software because I feel confident in my ability to use its features and I enjoy the ease of accessing my assignments without having to carry around a flash drive everywhere.     

    The standard from the ISTE Standards for Educators that stands out the most to me would be the Learner standard.  Even from the basic description of what this standard represents I feel as though this one aligns the most with my personal views of education, as well as my views on technology intermixed with education.  I believe deeply in continuing to expand the realm of 'Learning' from doing 12 years of schooling, and instead feel as though one should always try to learn and gather more information about things that they are passionate about in order to further the understanding and knowledge on said subject.  By educators regularly expanding their PLN and keeping up to date with new and improving technology, they are providing their students with a better opportunity to learn and build skills.  This benefits both the educator and the student as they both acquire more resources and opportunities that they may not have known about before or may not have had the skills to do.

    While the critics of Mark Prensky's idea of digital natives and digital immigrants may have a point in that the words can not be applied liberally, I do feel as though they can be applied to many people and situations in today's age.  I would infer that a majority of today's youth that do have access to technology do not know how to not only navigate it, but utilize it in a way to obtain whatever information they are looking for, due to the access that they had since early childhood.  Thus under the definition of being a 'native speaker', many people my age and younger would be considered digital natives.  I would say that the largest difference between being a digital native and a digital immigrant would be the ease in which a person can use technology, and this has definitely been apparent in my education.  I have had teachers that didn't even know how to pause a video on Youtube, let alone use updated technology to teach more informative, in-depth lessons.  In elementary school, there was a much larger effort to include technology such as through the use of Smart Boards in the classroom, as I got older these efforts began to disappear.  No classrooms in my middle and highschool buildings had these Smart Boards, and my teachers rarely tried to include technology in lessons unless it was using the laptop cart for a day to write essays on.  While I don't think this had a huge effect on my learning experience, I do think that by switching things up every once in a while would have caused me to become more engaged in the lessons being taught.  In terms of me and my future students, I don't believe there will be major differences seeing as how I am a digital native, which allows me grasp newer technologies quicker and easier, but I do think that since children are being introduced to technology at younger and younger ages, this will cause the classrooms to become much more centered around technology.  Newer educational technology may have to accommodate the children's understanding of how technology is used, such as through fun videos and educational games and apps.  Even so, I don't believe that there will be a large gap in the way my future students and I use technology.