Learning Educational Technologies

I watched the Frontline documentary entitled “Growing Up Online” and thought that it was very interesting. The children in the video, I felt, represented a whole generation of digital natives. The lives of children now are very different from when I was their age, and that wasn’t a very long time ago (Yet…). Their world is filled with MySpace and/or Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and Google. That is how their information is received and processed. One teacher in the video says that teachers have to be more like entertainers now to keep the children interested. I don’t so much agree with this. I feel like teachers must be able to keep up with the new trends, and stay on the same level as the students. Of course, they will always be able to do something more than what I may be able to do, but as long as I can get to know what they are doing most of the time, than I know I will be able to successfully integrate technology into my teaching.

What really scared be about the video was the boy who was being bullied online. I can’t even imagine how many children are being ridiculed now, even when they are not in school. I have run into a few bullies in my day, but I always knew that I just had to get through the day, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about them until I got to school again the next day. These children now don’t have the luxury of running away it seems. With cell phones being commonly held by younger children now, and the world of instant messaging and profiles, children are always immersed in their peer groups, or older ones. Children today don’t seem to function as well when they are not connected to people on the Internet, so the bullying is hard to get control of. I know when I was younger, I probably had 2 or 3 different screen names. My mom only knew of 1. She just assumed that when I was on instant messengers, that I was using that name.

As teachers, we need to learn to be aware of the new technologies that are becoming available to our students, and realize that there are some dangers. Children are not always going to come forward about what they are seeing online, or what new trend has popped up. I feel that it is the responsibility of adults to not criticize what our children are doing, but being aware and understanding of it.