According to the “Digital Denizen” (http://www.stockton.edu/~intech/spotlight-digital-denizens.htm), I would classify myself as a
digital native. I have grown up
using technology, and am able to manipulate certain technology in order to complete
certain tasks. Growing up, I
helped my parents figure out and understand how to use some technologies, for
example: the computer, cell phones, games, etc. However, in today’s world, I would consider myself to be a
digital immigrant. There are so
many new devices coming out that I have yet had a chance to interact with. These devices include: iPad, iPhone,
iTouch, etc. I am not able to use
these devices to my fullest ability as I was able to with other technologies
in the past. Technology is always growing and expanding, and as teachers, I
believe we need to be up-to-date with each change, being significant or insignificant.
If
a teacher is willing to use technology in the classroom, then I believe
students will have a greater opportunity of using technology in their daily
lives outside of school. Technology can give
students a variety of experiences that would be far different from experiences
without technology. At a young age, I learned basic skills on the computer,
such as writing word documents. I
was not able to move onto more complicated tasks, such as power point and excel
until I was fairly competent in working with word documents. After reflecting on my own technology
usage throughout my life, I decided to analyze the types of technology used
within my field placement. As I
observed the classroom technology more in-depth, I discovered that the only
technology used on a day-to-day basis was the Elmo and computer found in the
front of the room. The teacher
uses the Elmo to go over worksheets completed by students during classroom time. In addition to the Elmo, the computer is used to watch movies by connecting the computer to the projector in the front of the room. Students are able to see what’s on the
computer in a bigger format.
However, I believe there could be more technology used throughout the
classroom to enhance the students’ learning. Certain reading and writing activities could be helpful to
students who need more help, such as audio books, Wikki Stix, speaking devices,
etc.
^^The Elmo used in my classroom
http://www.wikkistix.com/educational_language_arts.php
^^^This is Wiki Stix- Awesome resource for readers
http://readingat.weebly.com/index.html
^^^Also, this is a website my peer and I created that includes reading and writing programs for students to access if they need resources in language arts.
As
I was reading Tompkins’s chapter about emergent
literacy learners, I noticed these learners focus on book-handling skills,
basic writing exercises (letters, spaces between words, few sentences, etc.),
and basic reading activities (identifying most letters, letter sounds,
etc.). These are only a few of
activities students participate in as emergent literacy learners. Before emergent learners move onto more
advanced tasks of language arts, they need to understand and master the
basics. This can related back to technology, because people must know the basics of technology in order to understand more complicated and difficult technologies. Finding a sturdy
foundation for students to stem from is very important to their learning.
When looking at my digital learning path, I
think I can compare closely to ELLs.
As technology becomes more and more advanced, I feel as if I am not able
to keep up with the changes, which makes me feel less competent in technology. As I observed a high school ELL
classroom, I could see some students were having difficulties in English. They were trying to complete many
advanced tasks without knowing the basics of the language. There was a great amount of struggle,
and the teacher had to go back and teach students the grammar basics of
English. As I said earlier, I
think it is very important to make sure students have a strong foundation of
language in order to learn higher skills.
