I'm writing this blog in response to Howard Rheingold's "Using Social Media to Teach Social Media," which we read for class. This article drew me in right away, because the first few lines resembled thoughts I've been having many times as of late. It talked about how today's students are "digital natives," how they have never known a world without the internet and a million technologies. Rheingold stated that "[Students] know the Internet not as a transformative new technology,but as a fixture in their environment" (25).
As I said this- the fact that these students did not grow up in the world I grew up in- is something I have thought a lot about it. It scares me to think that children today don't know a world WITHOUT the internet or without cell phones. They don't understand being stranded in your car, in the middle of nowhere, desperately wishing you knew where the closest pay phone was. That's a good thing. They won't ever have to wonder about what happened to so-and-so from third grade- they'll be in touch with his life through Facebook. That's another good thing.
Still, though, I can't help but be happy about the fact that I've lived in a world without modern technologies. Maybe it's just some weird "roughing it" pride thing, but I'm glad I've looked through books to find material for a project or paper, instead of just typing a phrase or two into Google. I'm glad I've been able to go on vacation and be impossible to get ahold of, because I didn't have a cell phone and people couldn't just do a quick search to find out the number of the hotel I was staying in. I'm even glad I wracked up a huge phone bill as a kid and got in trouble, thanks to antiquated long distance and the charge-you-every-time three-way calling.
It scares me to think that the students I teach have such a different life experience than me. So many times, they are more adept at technology than I am, and the roles reverse. They become the teacher, and I the student. I almost feel like a foreigner among these texters and twitterers sometimes, but I'm trying.
I'm working on accepting the fact that they know more than me when it comes to technology (and a million other things), and I'm working on letting them teach me. I think the students are the best ones to show us how we can use different technologies in the classroom, including social media.
Hi Susie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rheingold's statement. Children today have internet connection everywhere and at anytime. My friend's 7 year old children has a computer and cell phone with internet connection. It's shocking to me because my first computer/cell phone was when I was 18. However, this has become more and more common. Its freightinng to think what the world would be like as my son gets older.