That New Technology
This post is part of an ongoing series of chapters from the book CHOICE. Please view this post for an introduction and table of contents. To keep up with each new chapter published, please subscribe.
We’ve heard it before from teachers, staff, parents, and anyone else with students, “they are using so much new technology it’s impossible to keep up.”
This is usually followed by one of two emotions, wonder or frustration. Wonder at how these students can do so much with technology. They can learn and adapt to new devices and software seemingly instantly. Frustration at how much technology is being used that is unknown to the adults in the room. And it may not just be the technology, but the language used around the technology. There is frustration that the students want to use a new technology when the old one (that the adult knows how to use) does the same job.
When you have that frustration, take a step back, and remember how this situation came to be.
The technology the students are using is technology invented by the generation before them. The 7th graders using the latest social networking app were created by their parent’s generation.
Don’t shift blame to students for using technology that the previous generation gave them. They are inheriting the technology and pushing things forward for the next generation.
Author Comments
Providing a peak behind the curtain of the thought and writing process.
I know this chapter doesn’t specifically have to do with building a 1:1 program in your school district, but it’s a sentiment I’ve seen come up a lot. Technology is constantly changing in our world and this change happens rapidly.
We can’t have frustration at this change, we just have to move with it. Focus on the fundamentals, not the technology as much as possible.
What is a piece of technology you relied on in school (or even several year ago) that isn’t used today?