Technology and "Our" generation, with "their" generation

by Susie Kim

So I was thinking about how we can incorporate technology into our classroom, not for instructional reason (though that is what I should be thinking about) but to catch-up to "our" generation. Granted that "our" generation is older than "their" generation, we still grew up with more technology and new gadgets than our own teachers. When I mean by "our" generation, I mean the individuals who were born around the 1980s-1990s who were born with some technology, and grew up with the computer. As we all know, the computer and the internet did not really bloom until the 1990s (when I was in middle school) and after the Y2K, the internet was a contagious commodity of our time. We grew up with MTV's TRL, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon BallZ, as well as the then "new" beepers and cellphones. When my dad had a beeper it was so cool and green! I wanted one! But now we are exposed to Blackberrys, iPads, Netbooks, etc... beepers are WAY out-of-date!

Going back to what I was originally saying, "our" generation-- the group of people who were born in the 1980s-1990s who grew up with the internet and modern technology-- are closely related to "their" generation-- our students who have and are accustomed to modern technology as part of their lives, we are at an advantage to connect with our students than the experienced, veteran teacher. We can connect to our students by sharing to each other what makes alike: growing up with a cell-phone (well, high school for me), having the internet as an informational resource, MySpace and Facebook pages, digital cameras, the mechanical pencil, Harry Potter and Twilight (at least for me). All these trends are popular then as they are now which changes perspectives in teaching. As we’ve learned in class, technology must be incorporated into every classroom and adapted to the growing technology as our students are adapting to them. Soon, we will be looking at our internet through 3-D glasses, or having touch-screen computer screens as interactive tools for our classrooms (when the prices go down, that is).

We must adapt to technology, rather than adapting technology adapting to the classroom. This will be a difficult endeavor to us educators and our pockets, but we have to engage our students’ interest in a more up-to-date way that our students are exposed to in their lives, to enhance their educational experiences.

My experience in technology

by Susie Kim

My first experience with technology while I was growing up was when I was in 2nd/ 3rd grade; I remember I played (and loved it) Oregon Trail because we get to shoot poor little animals and learn about the Oregon Trail (though I don't remember this). I also remember my teacher using the overhead projector to teach us English grammar and some other concepts. I remember it being dark in the room and we were all facing her as she wrote the states in pretty colored markers, or something like that. I also remember my teacher playing a book on tape, it was "Where the Red Fern Grows" if I remember correctly. I don't remember much else from my elementary school years.

When I was in middle school I remember my US History teacher prepared a Jeopardy game using PowerPoint for us and it was really interesting to play the game that way. I also took a class on typing when I was in 7th grade and I'm really thankful for that. Though my family owned a computer, I didn't really know how to type; and having that class helped me to type because we had a program that we were using. I loved to challenge myself by typing as fast as I could in the time that I had. I fully enjoyed taking this class, and being more prepared in using the computer than my friends who were in band or choir as their electives. This was the time when technology really started to change my life as the internet became well known and utilized in the schools (and at home).