Technology....Technology Everywhere.

The average child has their hands on a phone by the time they are 2 years old. Our children are growing up with technology at their fingertips. IT IS NOT GOING AWAY, so we need to learn to adapt and utilize it. Technology is a language and our students are speaking it, we need to learn how to communicate with them in their world. I thought this concept was interesting today in class, how technology and social media is the way our students have been taught to communicate in todays day in age, this is how children have communicated their whole life, they do not know a world without technology. Educators need to respect the world that students are living in, if a student is constantly on their phone and cannot disconnect.. we need to be asking, " is everything ok?" because more often than not there is a reason they are on their phone, we just don't understand. . unless we ASK! Something might be wrong with that student, and maybe they just need to go out into the hallway and take a minute to collect themselves before coming back in. They will be able to learn better when they are not worried about that message that is waiting for them that they need to respond to.

I was a bit nervous at first thinking about a child having a laptop or using their phone in the classroom, but I have learned in just one day of class that there are so many different ways we can utilize technology to allow our students to learn. Think about the type of questions our students are now able to answer, because of technology, think about how far back in time they can go  (1800's!) because of google newspaper, or how students can search articles from New Zealand in less than a minute...they can be there getting that perspective in no time! How. Cool. Is. That!? 

I also really liked the collaborative note taking that we did today in class. This tool was really helpful to me and other students, because I feel like I need to take down every single note, but then when I start taking notes. . I am no longer listening to the professor. . I am just typing what I hear and that is it. Today, I was able to listen and really be present in the lecture and I obtained much more than if I felt as though I had to take notes the whole time. I also like the fact that the professor has access to it and will be able to edit it and add to it within the hour or before the students take the document home to study. This is beneficial, because that way the students are not studying or missing anything the professor wanted them to know. I will utilize this tool in my classroom!!