Lost in Translation

Reading and discussing the Net Generation has really thrown me for a loop. As my students are severely disabled, we do not really use the internet in the classroom. That, coupled with the fact that i do not know many young people, has left me unaware of how advanced these students are with technology. I was a child when computers first became big and remember getting our first hand me down computer, replacing our brother word processor! I basically used the computer to check email and to use instant messanger nightly to chat with my friends. IAt the time, i still had to use encyclopedias for research and go to the library. It wasnt until hightschool and college that i began utilizing internet for research. It amazes me how computer literate the kids of today are - many of them know more about technology then i do. Aside from messenging and researching, these kids are blogging and creatign their own websites - something i just recently learned about. We as educators definitely need to advance our technology knowledge, learn from our students and challenge them. It is scary to think of how much more advanced these students today are!
What is the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 bookmarking?
Today's students are very different from the previour generations of students. They have grown up in a technological age with cell phones, video games, and computers. Much more focus is placed on the internet and less on actuall books. Previous generations utlized encylopedias and libraries for research, today's students are able to use the internet to do the research, yieldig a greater supply of resuts in a faster manner. Encylopedias are now online along with journals. As a result of this different, teachers need to learn to communicate in the language of these students and integrate technology into learning. These students, are multitaskers - they can write a paper while researchig, blogging, istant messaging, listening to music and watching tv. They are used to a fast busy pace and teachers must make their learning coorelate with this lifestyle.
The six 2007 National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) are:
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
Of these standards, i think that creativity and innovation along with research and information fluency are both well implemented. I think educators do a great job of supplying students with models and simulations and allowing them to explore. there are also a lot of websites that allow students to explore on their own. Research is primarily done through the use of technology by students today. teachers have to specify if they want students to use actual books for research now days! I feel that i am ready to meet these two standards in the classroom, but i definitly need to further my knowledge of technology in order to successfully meet the other four standards. Hopefully this class will help with that.How do you feel about your readiness to meet those standards?
The shift from 1.0 to 2.o come with a lot of changes: instruction goes from teacher centered to student centered; from sinle sense stimulation to mulitsensory; single path progression to multi path; single media to mulit media; isolated work setting to collaborative work setting; information simply being delivered to actually being exchanged; passive learning to active/exploratory/imquiry based learning; from reactive responses to proactive/planned action; and from isolated artificial contexts to authentic real world contexts.
Openning accounts for various tools including del.icio.us, diigo, slideshare, mind-mapping tools has been a quick and easy process. I have not yet been able to utilize these tools for my teaching careet but hope to be able to do so soon. Working with the autistic population definitely inhibits my use of technology but look forward to trying to integrate some tools.
The internet is a wonderful resource, but they are definitely some risks with children utilizing the world wide web. As a result of these risks, there are safety laws put into place to protect children using the web. there is a federal law desgined to keep anyone from obtaining a child's personal information with a parent knowing and agreeing to it. There are also online tools such as parent control options enabling parents to block certain material on the computer. there is also software that helps block access to certain sites. There are filtering programs and programs that are able to track online activity. Parentd definitely need to educate themselves on the risks of computer use and ways to prevent any issues from occurring. This involves not only educating themselves but also educating their child.