Blog Post 1

In an age where almost everything can be done with the single click of a button on a computer it is of the utmost importance to include computer and other kinds of technology to the educational experience. As much as some try to disconnect students from technology it is almost impossible to do so these days and it's only going to get harder later on; so including computer science education in a curriculum is a great way to facilitate the benefits of technology toward learning. Teachers and students now have a way to monitor progress inside and outside of the classroom, and they have a myriad of resources now available at all times of the day that help with the advancement and enhancement of subjects. Of course there are concerns that come with including technology in the classroom. One of the main ones is cyber safety. Luckily this is an easily correctable problem where teachers can explain and model the correct ways to navigate the internet and how to avoid problems like cyberbullying and viruses. Although we are heading toward a time where everything is digital we are not there yet so it is important for teachers to have a balance in their lesson where they can teach their students to solve situational problems even without the help of technology.
I very much want to be a french teacher and a lot of the things involved with teaching a foreign language has to do with listening which means my classroom will not have a big focus on technology. But opportunities in which I can use technology would be for simulations. For example a major problem with teaching french in a classroom is that students don't get to here all the different kinds of voices and accents that one would in encounter in a french speaking country like France. Having computer programs which allow for that kind of exposure would be a great help for a complete comprehension of spoke french. There are also programs that allow for audio recorded assessments which would be great for me as a teacher so I can listen to my students progress. In this class that I'm taking I'm hoping to learn good research methods to provide my students with an optimal range of audio and visual resources.
To be a digital native is to be a person who has never known a time without technology, or someone who considers technology an extension of themselves. This is an accurate label to describe today's youth because now very young children can be seen holding the newest iPad, or having the newest gaming system and even now app developers continue to throw out apps directly for children. One of the main differences between a digital native and a digital immigrant is how dependent they are on technology. I personally don't leave my house without my phone or my laptop at any given time because I feel weird without it but my mother consistently forgets her phone in the house because she's not used having it as a part of herself. For the most part my teachers have a pretty good grasp of the technology used in classrooms but some of my older teachers if they encounter a problem during the lecture they sometimes have great difficulty trying to fix them whereas my younger teachers can easily resolve them. I feel as if when I'm a teacher I will struggle with the new technology because I constantly get frustrated at the ones here and now but I'm hoping I have tech savvy students that can help me out.