Blog Journal #2

 I used Microsoft word with relative frequency in middle school, as I used it to type all of my writing assignments. However, I wasn’t very tech-savvy with it. When I started high school, my classes had students write papers on Pages and Google docs, never suggesting Word. In the past four years, I’ve barely used Microsoft Word at all, so I’m a little slower at using it. Since I’ve started at FSU, I’ve begun to use Microsoft Word in my classes, and I think I’ll get the hang of it with a bit more use.

The ISTE standard that I find most meaningful is that of learner. The point of the standard is that educators are constantly learning, in various ways and from various sources. It is important for K-12 teachers to be learners because technology is constantly changing, and a teacher needs to stay abreast of those changes if they want to be able to relate to their students. Also, teachers can make their subject matter more engaging if they teach it in new ways. By learning new teaching strategies from peers, K-12 educators can find better ways to teach their students.

I do agree with the label “digital native”. To be a digital native is to have grown up surrounded by and using technology, particularly the Internet. Because digital natives have grown up using technology, learning it the same way they learned how to read, the are often much quicker at learning new technology than digital immigrants. Digital natives are more comfortable with new technology, and don’t get as flustered and frustrated by it as digital immigrants do. I think that when I have students, there will be new forms of technology they grew up with that I will be unfamiliar with. Just as my classmates and I sometimes had to help our teacher figure out the overhead projector, my students will likely need to help me with another form of technology.